nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,120,000 shares, a decrease of 5.9% from the July 15th total of 1,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 229,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of nLIGHT in a report on Monday, August 5th. Benchmark reiterated a “speculative buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of nLIGHT in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

nLIGHT Trading Down 0.4 %

LASR opened at $11.67 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.28. nLIGHT has a 1-year low of $8.13 and a 1-year high of $15.00. The company has a market cap of $555.08 million, a P/E ratio of -11.44 and a beta of 2.39.

nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $50.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.23 million. nLIGHT had a negative return on equity of 19.33% and a negative net margin of 25.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that nLIGHT will post -0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at nLIGHT

In other nLIGHT 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 value of $33,225.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 191,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,546,071.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of nLIGHT

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of nLIGHT in the fourth quarter valued at $1,139,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in nLIGHT by 17.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in nLIGHT by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 357,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,829,000 after purchasing an additional 7,660 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in nLIGHT by 112.0% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 65,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $857,000 after purchasing an additional 34,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of nLIGHT in the fourth quarter worth approximately $150,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.