nLIGHT’s (LASR) Speculative Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Benchmark restated their speculative buy rating on shares of nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $17.00 price target on the stock.

Separately, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on nLIGHT from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday.

nLIGHT Stock Performance

LASR opened at $12.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $600.21 million, a P/E ratio of -12.37 and a beta of 2.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $12.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.33. nLIGHT has a twelve month low of $8.13 and a twelve month high of $15.91.

nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.02. nLIGHT had a negative net margin of 23.81% and a negative return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $51.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.08 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that nLIGHT will post -0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 14,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.26, for a total transaction of $172,927.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 146,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,797,328.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of nLIGHT

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LASR. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in nLIGHT by 12.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,357,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,513,000 after buying an additional 269,000 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in nLIGHT by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 1,693,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,867,000 after acquiring an additional 258,199 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in nLIGHT by 1,251.2% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 250,373 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,601,000 after purchasing an additional 231,844 shares in the last quarter. Senvest Management LLC lifted its stake in nLIGHT by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 1,156,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,616,000 after purchasing an additional 198,609 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in nLIGHT by 17.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 154,273 shares in the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is currently 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.