nLIGHT’s (LASR) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $15.00 price target on the stock.

Separately, Benchmark reaffirmed a speculative buy rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of nLIGHT in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

nLIGHT Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of LASR opened at $10.86 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $11.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $516.56 million, a P/E ratio of -10.65 and a beta of 2.39. nLIGHT has a 12-month low of $8.13 and a 12-month high of $15.00.

nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $50.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.23 million. nLIGHT had a negative net margin of 25.62% and a negative return on equity of 19.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.18) EPS. Analysts predict that nLIGHT will post -0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other nLIGHT news, Director Geoffrey Moore sold 38,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total transaction of $509,779.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 71,186 shares in the company, valued at $935,384.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other nLIGHT news, Director Geoffrey Moore sold 38,796 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.14, for a total transaction of $509,779.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 71,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $935,384.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.29, for a total transaction of $33,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 191,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,546,071.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of nLIGHT

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in nLIGHT by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 69,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after buying an additional 8,064 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in nLIGHT by 15,830.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 21,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 21,846 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in nLIGHT by 27.2% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 91,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 19,556 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in nLIGHT by 19.2% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 93,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 14,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in nLIGHT by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,020,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,087,000 after purchasing an additional 309,634 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

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.