Short Interest in nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR) Expands By 21.8%

by · The Cerbat Gem

nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASRGet Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,900,000 shares, a growth of 21.8% from the March 15th total of 1,560,000 shares. Currently, 4.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 415,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days.

nLIGHT Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LASR traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $7.20. 313,825 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 325,667. The company has a market capitalization of $353.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.99 and a beta of 2.24. nLIGHT has a 1-year low of $6.20 and a 1-year high of $14.73. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.24.

nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASRGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $47.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.62 million. nLIGHT had a negative net margin of 24.16% and a negative return on equity of 19.53%. On average, research analysts forecast that nLIGHT will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Scott H. Keeney sold 53,511 shares of nLIGHT stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.17, for a total value of $437,184.87. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,267,927 shares in the company, valued at $10,358,963.59. This trade represents a 4.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On nLIGHT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in shares of nLIGHT by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 2,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of nLIGHT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of nLIGHT by 3,951.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 3,596 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in nLIGHT by 6,563.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 4,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in nLIGHT in the 4th quarter valued at $102,000. Institutional investors own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on nLIGHT from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of nLIGHT from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on LASR

nLIGHT Company Profile

(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.

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