James Nias Sells 1,618 Shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) Stock

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CAO James Nias sold 1,618 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $110,800.64. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 98,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,777,876.48. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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.

James Nias also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, May 20th, James Nias sold 415 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.09, for a total transaction of $29,502.35.
• On Monday, May 18th, James Nias sold 1,565 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.82, for a total transaction of $110,833.30.
• On Friday, May 15th, James Nias sold 1,487 shares of nLight stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $111,762.92.
• On Thursday, March 12th, James Nias sold 1,808 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.42, for a total transaction of $116,471.36.
• On Thursday, March 5th, James Nias sold 3,249 shares of nLight stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $201,308.04.

nLight Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of LASR opened at $78.54 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of -261.79 and a beta of 2.34. nLight has a 12-month low of $13.45 and a 12-month high of $86.95.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.20 EPS 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 55.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS. Analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting nLight

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

• Positive Sentiment: nLight’s recent quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $0.20 versus $0.08 expected and revenue of $80.18 million versus $72.14 million expected. Revenue also rose 55.2% year over year, reinforcing the view that business momentum remains strong.
• Positive Sentiment: Research coverage has stayed constructive, including reports highlighting nLight as a strong momentum stock and multiple bullish analyst ratings, which can help support investor confidence in LASR.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several executives, including CEO Scott H. Keeney, CFO Joseph John Corso, and CAO James Nias, sold shares recently. The filings say the trades were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans and to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards, which makes them less concerning than discretionary selling.
• Negative Sentiment: Even though the insider sales appear routine, the volume of selling from top executives may still weigh on sentiment in the short term as some investors interpret it as profit-taking after a sharp run-up in the share price.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. William Blair started coverage on nLight in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on nLight in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.06.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLight

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new position in nLight during the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of nLight by 155.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in nLight during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 7,871.4% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares during the period. 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.