IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) Given Hold Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their hold rating on shares of IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of IPG Photonics from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of IPG Photonics from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, February 17th. Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a buy rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of IPG Photonics from a neutral rating to a sell rating and cut their price target for the company from $111.00 to $74.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $111.60.

IPG Photonics Price Performance

Shares of IPG Photonics stock opened at $83.55 on Wednesday. IPG Photonics has a one year low of $80.33 and a one year high of $141.85. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 17.53 and a beta of 1.19.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.04. IPG Photonics had a net margin of 17.00% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The firm had revenue of $252.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $255.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 27.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that IPG Photonics will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IPG Photonics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 13th that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at IPG Photonics

In other news, Director Eric Meurice sold 788 shares of IPG Photonics stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.30, for a total value of $70,368.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,472,646.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other IPG Photonics news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction of $895,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,209,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $645,691,686.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Eric Meurice sold 788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.30, for a total value of $70,368.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,472,646.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,788 shares of company stock valued at $2,595,508 in the last quarter. 33.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IPG Photonics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IPGP. Channing Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of IPG Photonics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $70,719,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in IPG Photonics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,365,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in IPG Photonics by 636.6% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 204,502 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,197,000 after purchasing an additional 176,739 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in IPG Photonics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,035,000. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics by 123.5% during the 4th quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 216,978 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,551,000 after acquiring an additional 119,900 shares in the last quarter. 93.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

IPG Photonics Company Profile

IPG Photonics Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells various high-performance fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers, and diode lasers used in various applications primarily in materials processing worldwide. Its laser products include hybrid fiber-solid state lasers with green and ultraviolet wavelengths; fiber pigtailed packaged diodes and fiber coupled direct diode laser systems; high-energy pulsed lasers, multi-wavelength and tunable lasers, and single-polarization and single-frequency lasers; and high-power optical fiber delivery cables, fiber couplers, beam switches, chillers, scanners, and other accessories.