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

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their hold rating on shares of IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Citigroup downgraded IPG Photonics from a neutral rating to a sell rating and dropped their price target for the company from $111.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on 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 downgraded IPG Photonics from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $111.60.

IPG Photonics Stock Performance

Shares of IPG Photonics stock opened at $83.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $87.66 and a 200-day moving average of $94.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 17.53 and a beta of 1.19. IPG Photonics has a 52-week low of $80.33 and a 52-week high of $141.85.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $252.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $255.53 million. IPG Photonics had a net margin of 17.00% and a return on equity of 9.18%. IPG Photonics’s quarterly revenue was down 27.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict 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 buyback program on Tuesday, February 13th that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IPG Photonics news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.68, for a total transaction of $856,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,219,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $618,575,242.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Eric Meurice sold 788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $1,472,646.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.68, for a total value of $856,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,219,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,575,242.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,788 shares of company stock valued at $2,595,508. 33.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of IPG Photonics by 127.2% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 259 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new stake in IPG Photonics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in IPG Photonics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. AM Squared Ltd boosted 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 valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in IPG Photonics by 39.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 612 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.79% of the company’s stock.

About IPG Photonics

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.