nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock Price Down 7% – Should You Sell?

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) shares dropped 7% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $44.05 and last traded at $44.0850. Approximately 239,359 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 1,435,411 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LASR shares. Zacks Research cut nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on nLight in a report on Friday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.94.

nLight Stock Down 6.4%

The company has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a PE ratio of -177.32 and a beta of 2.31. The company’s fifty day moving average is $63.82 and its 200-day moving average is $65.13.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $82.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.58 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 2.83% and a negative net margin of 4.02%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.06 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that nLight will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at nLight

In other nLight news, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total transaction of $73,310.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 97,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,613,461.79. This represents a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,817 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.90, for a total value of $278,259.30. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 169,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,386,803.50. The trade was a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 116,331 shares of company stock worth $8,834,029. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LASR. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of nLight during the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in nLight by 155.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in nLight by 7,871.4% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in nLight in the 2nd quarter valued at $81,000. 83.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.