Analysts Set nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Price Target at $58.31
by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat GemnLight (NASDAQ:LASR – Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.1875.
LASR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of nLight in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, February 27th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of nLight from $44.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of nLight from $40.00 to $62.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th.
Get Our Latest Report on nLight
nLight Trading Up 1.4%
Shares of NASDAQ:LASR opened at $70.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of -149.85 and a beta of 2.27. nLight has a 1 year low of $6.94 and a 1 year high of $74.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $61.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.19.
nLight (NASDAQ:LASR – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $81.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.71 million. nLight had a negative net margin of 8.98% and a negative return on equity of 9.28%. nLight’s revenue for the quarter was up 71.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.30) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that nLight will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity
In other nLight news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 13,038 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $807,834.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 183,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,350,204.56. The trade was a 6.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO James Nias sold 3,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $201,308.04. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 95,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,930,005.72. This represents a 3.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 130,780 shares of company stock worth $8,032,729 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in nLight by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,989,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,166,000 after acquiring an additional 125,446 shares during the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC lifted its position in nLight by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 1,857,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,684,000 after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in nLight by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,399,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,485,000 after acquiring an additional 341,948 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in nLight by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,234,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,320,000 after acquiring an additional 20,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in nLight during the 4th quarter worth $41,315,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.
About nLight
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.