Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stake in IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 108,558 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,536 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in IPG Photonics were worth $11,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of IPGP. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in IPG Photonics by 127.2% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 259 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. purchased a new position in IPG Photonics in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in IPG Photonics in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. AM Squared Ltd raised its holdings in IPG Photonics by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. AM Squared Ltd now owns 600 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in IPG Photonics in the third quarter worth about $89,000. 93.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IPGP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of IPG Photonics from $74.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of IPG Photonics from $116.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of IPG Photonics from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of IPG Photonics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, IPG Photonics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.40.

IPG Photonics Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ IPGP opened at $85.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $87.83 and a 200 day moving average of $93.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.07 and a beta of 1.17. IPG Photonics Co. has a 12-month low of $80.33 and a 12-month high of $141.85.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $252.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.53 million. IPG Photonics had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 7.67%. The company’s revenue was down 27.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that IPG Photonics Co. will post 2.77 EPS for the current year.

IPG Photonics announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 13th that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at IPG Photonics

In other news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total value of $895,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,209,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $645,691,686.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total value of $895,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,209,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $645,691,686.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Eric Meurice sold 788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.30, for a total transaction of $70,368.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,472,646.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,788 shares of company stock valued at $1,738,708. 38.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

IPG Photonics 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.