Swiss National Bank Boosts Holdings in nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR)

Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 90,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in nLIGHT were worth $944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in nLIGHT in the 3rd quarter worth about $123,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in nLIGHT by 2.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 385,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,124,000 after purchasing an additional 8,139 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in nLIGHT during the 3rd quarter worth $622,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in nLIGHT during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,342,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of nLIGHT by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 10,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 2,052 shares during the period. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at nLIGHT

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LASR has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on nLIGHT from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of nLIGHT from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th.

nLIGHT Trading Down 3.9 %

LASR opened at $7.95 on Friday. nLIGHT, Inc. has a 12 month low of $7.84 and a 12 month high of $14.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.64. The firm has a market cap of $389.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.72 and a beta of 2.29.

nLIGHT (NASDAQ:LASR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.42) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by ($0.21). nLIGHT had a negative net margin of 24.16% and a negative return on equity of 19.53%. The firm had revenue of $47.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.62 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that nLIGHT, Inc. will post -1.1 EPS for the current year.

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.