Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan Takes $11.28 Million Position in nLight $LASR

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan bought a new position in nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 162,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,284,000. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan owned about 0.28% of nLight at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LASR. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in nLight by 1,599.1% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in nLight by 7,142.9% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of nLight in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of nLight by 7,871.4% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

nLight Price Performance

nLight stock opened at $42.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -171.76 and a beta of 2.31. nLight has a 1 year low of $27.22 and a 1 year high of $86.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.87.

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

Insider Transactions at nLight

In related news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,840 shares of nLight stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total value of $299,481.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,732 shares in the company, valued at $13,549,358.68. The trade was a 2.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 181,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.88, for a total transaction of $8,520,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,185,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,434,628.32. The trade was a 7.68% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 397,087 shares of company stock valued at $19,090,182. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LASR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Craig Hallum lifted their price target on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price target on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.