nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR - Free Report) in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $15.50 target price on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of nLIGHT in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Benchmark restated a speculative buy rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of nLIGHT in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

nLIGHT Price Performance

LASR traded up $0.25 on Thursday, hitting $10.76. The company had a trading volume of 351,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 216,054. The company's fifty day moving average price is $11.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.79. nLIGHT has a 1-year low of $8.13 and a 1-year high of $15.00. The stock has a market cap of $511.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.55 and a beta of 2.36.

nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.03. nLIGHT had a negative return on equity of 19.58% and a negative net margin of 25.62%. The firm had revenue of $50.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.18) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that nLIGHT will post -0.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 4,461 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.44, for a total transaction of $51,033.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 171,434 shares in the company, valued at $1,961,204.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of nLIGHT

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in nLIGHT by 15.0% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,518 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in nLIGHT by 16.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in nLIGHT in the third quarter valued at $179,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in nLIGHT by 9.6% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 13,913 shares of the company's stock valued at $181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in nLIGHT in the second quarter valued at $197,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.