nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

nLIGHT, Inc. (NASDAQ:LASR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,560,000 shares, a growth of 20.0% from the February 28th total of 1,300,000 shares. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 427,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at nLIGHT

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On nLIGHT

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LASR. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 935 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of nLIGHT in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of nLIGHT by 3,951.6% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 3,596 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd boosted its position in shares of nLIGHT by 1,637.2% during the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 4,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 3,913 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of nLIGHT during the third quarter worth about $50,000. 83.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

nLIGHT Stock Down 11.3 %

LASR stock traded down $0.91 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $7.17. The stock had a trading volume of 175,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 315,449. nLIGHT has a twelve month low of $7.11 and a twelve month high of $14.73. The firm has a market cap of $351.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.97 and a beta of 2.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.58.

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