Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Takes Position in nLight $LASR

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 53,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,740,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned 0.10% of nLight at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in nLight during the 4th quarter worth $41,315,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in nLight by 377.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,057,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,327,000 after buying an additional 835,720 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in nLight by 537.8% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 631,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,711,000 after buying an additional 532,470 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in nLight by 119.4% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 755,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,393,000 after buying an additional 411,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tema ETFs LLC boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 84,128.8% during the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 394,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,444,000 after acquiring an additional 393,723 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at nLight

In other nLight news, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total transaction of $73,310.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total transaction of $2,497,510.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 177,572 shares in the company, valued at $12,501,068.80. This trade represents a 16.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Insiders sold 193,595 shares of company stock worth $14,273,701 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

nLight Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LASR opened at $54.00 on Tuesday. nLight has a 1 year low of $24.87 and a 1 year high of $86.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -216.00 and a beta of 2.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $65.29 and a 200-day moving average of $65.09.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. nLight had a negative return on equity of 2.83% and a negative net margin of 4.02%.The company had revenue of $82.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.58 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that nLight will post -0.2 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LASR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, nLight has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.94.

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.