Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 3,105 Shares of IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP – Get Rating) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 126,197 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,105 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in IPG Photonics were worth $11,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,326,220 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $409,563,000 after purchasing an additional 119,327 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,849,934 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $422,568,000 after purchasing an additional 24,859 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics by 1.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,559,937 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $280,980,000 after purchasing an additional 37,842 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics by 18.9% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,701,795 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $186,788,000 after purchasing an additional 270,190 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics by 15.0% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 702,254 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $59,238,000 after purchasing an additional 91,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IPGP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of IPG Photonics from $110.00 to $145.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Citigroup reduced their target price on IPG Photonics from $160.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. StockNews.com raised IPG Photonics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on IPG Photonics from $140.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of IPG Photonics from $100.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.00.

Insider Transactions at IPG Photonics

In other news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 16,500 shares of IPG Photonics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.20, for a total transaction of $2,016,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,378,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $901,603,697.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 16,500 shares of IPG Photonics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.20, for a total transaction of $2,016,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,378,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $901,603,697.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jeanmarie F. Desmond sold 1,180 shares of IPG Photonics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.70, for a total transaction of $129,446.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $581,848.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 58,930 shares of company stock worth $6,860,044 in the last 90 days. 37.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

IPG Photonics Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:IPGP opened at $111.56 on Friday. IPG Photonics Co. has a 12 month low of $79.88 and a 12 month high of $134.81. The company has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 58.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.73.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The semiconductor company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.26. IPG Photonics had a net margin of 7.14% and a return on equity of 4.62%. The business had revenue of $347.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that IPG Photonics Co. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current year.

IPG Photonics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About IPG Photonics

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IPG Photonics Corp. engages in the design, development, production and distribution of fiber lasers, laser systems, fiber amplifiers, and related optical components. Its products include lasers, beam delivery, medical, telecom equipment, product finder and components such as pump diodes, chillers, and mid-IR crystals.