Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP – Get Rating) by 35.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,036 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,823 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of IPG Photonics worth $2,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Concord Wealth Partners bought a new position in IPG Photonics in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics by 363.9% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 566 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 570 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of IPG Photonics by 112.4% in the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 667 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of IPG Photonics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $74,000. 63.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of IPG Photonics from $110.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. StockNews.com upgraded IPG Photonics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 11th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on IPG Photonics from $160.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 9th. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of IPG Photonics from $140.00 to $134.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on IPG Photonics from $100.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, IPG Photonics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.00.

IPG Photonics Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of IPGP stock opened at $111.56 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $115.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.73. IPG Photonics Co. has a twelve month low of $79.88 and a twelve month high of $134.81. The company has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.22.

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

IPG Photonics declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IPG Photonics news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 8,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.90, for a total transaction of $906,675.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,336,849 shares in the company, valued at $806,319,705.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 8,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.90, for a total value of $906,675.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,336,849 shares in the company, valued at $806,319,705.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeanmarie F. Desmond sold 1,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.70, for a total value of $129,446.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,304 shares in the company, valued at $581,848.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 58,930 shares of company stock worth $6,860,044. 37.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.