Disciplined Equity Management Inc. Takes Position in IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP)

Disciplined Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 176,739 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in IPG Photonics by 2.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,039,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $308,587,000 after purchasing an additional 85,984 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of IPG Photonics by 2,136.2% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 82,739 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,401,000 after buying an additional 79,039 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics by 9.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 836,794 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $84,968,000 after purchasing an additional 73,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in shares of IPG Photonics by 46.7% in the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 175,099 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $17,780,000 after purchasing an additional 55,700 shares during the last quarter. 93.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IPGP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered IPG Photonics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $111.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com downgraded IPG Photonics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 17th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on IPG Photonics from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn restated a “buy” rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have issued 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Eric Meurice sold 629 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $62,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,100. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Eric Meurice sold 629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $62,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,100. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $856,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,219,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,575,242.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,629 shares of company stock valued at $1,815,300. Insiders own 33.50% of the company’s stock.

IPG Photonics Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IPGP traded up $2.68 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $88.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 250,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 293,067. The firm has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.88 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $87.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.40. IPG Photonics Co. has a 1 year low of $83.00 and a 1 year high of $141.85.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $298.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.03 million. IPG Photonics had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 17.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.91) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that IPG Photonics Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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.