First Trust Advisors LP Sells 10,125 Shares of nLight $LASR

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 3.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 253,492 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,125 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in nLight were worth $14,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of nLight during the first quarter worth $52,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in nLight by 7,142.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in nLight by 155.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in shares of nLight during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of nLight by 7,871.4% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at nLight

In related news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 16,089 shares of nLight stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.60, for a total value of $1,200,239.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,185,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,003,909.40. This trade represents a 0.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total value of $73,310.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 97,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,613,461.79. This trade represents a 0.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 391,038 shares of company stock valued at $28,367,419 in the last 90 days. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of nLight from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, nLight presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $80.94.

nLight Stock Performance

Shares of LASR stock opened at $65.71 on Friday. nLight has a 52 week low of $19.40 and a 52 week high of $86.95. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $68.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.66. The company has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -219.03 and a beta of 2.30.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.12. nLight had a negative net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. The company had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.04) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

nLight Company Profile

nLIGHT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications. The company operates in two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. It offers semiconductor lasers with various ranges of power levels, wavelengths, and output fiber sizes; and programmable and serviceable fiber lasers for use in industrial and aerospace and defense applications. The company also provides laser sensors, including light detection and ranging technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications; and fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications.