Insider Selling: nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) CFO Sells 20,243 Shares of Stock

by · The Cerbat Gem

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR – Get Free Report) CFO Joseph John Corso sold 20,243 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $1,386,240.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 213,048 shares in the company, valued at $14,589,527.04. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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.

Joseph John Corso also recently made the following trade(s):

  • On Wednesday, May 20th, Joseph John Corso sold 35,476 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.40, for a total value of $2,497,510.40.
  • On Monday, May 18th, Joseph John Corso sold 19,575 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.82, for a total value of $1,386,301.50.
  • On Friday, May 15th, Joseph John Corso sold 18,445 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $1,386,326.20.
  • On Friday, March 6th, Joseph John Corso sold 12,290 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.39, for a total value of $742,193.10.
  • On Thursday, March 5th, Joseph John Corso sold 13,038 shares of nLight stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $807,834.48.

nLight Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LASR traded up $5.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $76.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,031,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,345,495. nLight has a one year low of $13.38 and a one year high of $86.95. The firm has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -254.76 and a beta of 2.34. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.88.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. nLight had a negative return on equity of 4.18% and a negative net margin of 5.08%.The company had revenue of $80.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. nLight’s revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that nLight will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of nLight

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 0.7% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 41,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of nLight by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of nLight by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. 83.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting nLight

Here are the key news stories impacting nLight this week:

  • Positive Sentiment: nLight reported strong quarterly results earlier this month, with EPS of $0.20 versus estimates of $0.08 and revenue of $80.18 million versus expectations of $72.14 million. Revenue also rose 55.2% year over year, reinforcing the company’s growth story and helping support the stock.
  • Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly constructive, with several firms reiterating or raising buy ratings and price targets, including targets as high as $100. That suggests the market still sees room for more upside in LASR.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Multiple insider sales were disclosed by CEO Scott H. Keeney, CFO Joseph John Corso, and CAO James Nias. The company said the trades were made under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans and to cover tax withholding tied to vesting equity awards, which makes them less concerning than discretionary selling.
  • Neutral Sentiment: The selling was sizable in dollar terms, especially from the CEO and CFO, so investors may still view it as a sentiment headwind even though the transactions appear routine.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on nLight from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. William Blair assumed coverage on nLight in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on nLight from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, nLight currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.06.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on LASR

About nLight

(Get Free Report)

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.

Read More