Scott Keeney Sells 8,901 Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CEO Scott Keeney sold 8,901 shares of the business’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 $694,188.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,201,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,665,972.72. This represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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.

nLight Stock Performance

LASR traded down $9.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $65.85. 1,160,903 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,511,003. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -219.49 and a beta of 2.31. nLight has a 12-month low of $16.87 and a 12-month high of $86.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.03.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $80.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.14 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 5.08% and a negative return on equity of 4.18%. nLight’s revenue for the quarter was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that nLight will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LASR shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. William Blair initiated coverage on nLight in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.06.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LASR. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in nLight by 4.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 622.7% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 77,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 66,518 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 75,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 5,828 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of nLight by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 107,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,114,000 after purchasing an additional 7,179 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of nLight during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $600,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

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.