Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Acquires 36,543 Shares of nLight $LASR

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 749,079 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 36,543 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. owned about 1.30% of nLight worth $29,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in nLight by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 41,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of nLight by 9.1% during the third quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 7,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of nLight by 67.9% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in shares of nLight during the first quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of nLight during the third quarter worth $39,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

nLight Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LASR opened at $36.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of -144.88 and a beta of 2.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.19. nLight has a fifty-two week low of $28.05 and a fifty-two week high of $86.95.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $82.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.06 EPS. Research analysts predict that nLight will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on LASR. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of nLight from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group set a $90.00 price objective on nLight in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Craig Hallum raised their target price on nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Northcoast Research set a $75.00 target price on nLight and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO James Nias sold 1,025 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.69, for a total transaction of $41,707.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 96,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,930,491.24. This trade represents a 1.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Joseph Corso sold 3,524 shares of nLight stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.49, for a total transaction of $146,210.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 162,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,729,678. This represents a 2.13% decrease in their position. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 621,149 shares of company stock worth $27,153,700. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

nLight Company Profile

nLight, Inc (NASDAQ: LASR) develops and manufactures semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, aerospace and defense, and other specialized applications. Its products are designed to deliver high optical power, precision and reliability for uses such as materials processing, metal cutting and welding, additive manufacturing, and directed-energy systems.

The company offers a range of laser components and systems, including high-power diode lasers, fiber lasers, and related optical and beam-delivery technologies.