Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR)

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

Separately, Benchmark restated 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 NASDAQ LASR opened at $10.86 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $516.56 million, a PE ratio of -10.65 and a beta of 2.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.75 and its 200-day moving average is $12.40. nLIGHT has a 1 year low of $8.13 and a 1 year high of $15.00.

nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $50.51 million for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that nLIGHT will post -0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at nLIGHT

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLIGHT

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in nLIGHT by 18.1% during the second quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,020,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,087,000 after buying an additional 309,634 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of nLIGHT by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 1,044,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,104,000 after acquiring an additional 154,273 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of nLIGHT in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,139,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in nLIGHT by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,995,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,952,000 after purchasing an additional 58,689 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of nLIGHT during the fourth quarter worth approximately $473,000. 83.88% of the stock is owned by 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.