IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) Major Shareholder Sells $772,740.00 in Stock

IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.86, for a total value of $772,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,200,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,243,430.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Valentin Gapontsev Trust I also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 25th, Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of IPG Photonics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction of $895,600.00.
• On Friday, February 23rd, Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of IPG Photonics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.68, for a total value of $856,800.00.

IPG Photonics Stock Performance

IPGP traded up $0.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $88.24. 186,185 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 291,731. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.36. The firm has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06, a P/E/G ratio of 16.93 and a beta of 1.19. IPG Photonics Co. has a 1 year low of $83.00 and a 1 year high of $141.85.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.06). IPG Photonics had a net margin of 17.00% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The firm had revenue of $298.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $287.03 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.91) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities 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 initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 13th that permits the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded IPG Photonics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 17th. Citigroup cut shares of IPG Photonics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $111.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Seaport Res Ptn reissued a “buy” rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on IPG Photonics from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IPG Photonics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC boosted its position in IPG Photonics by 123.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 837 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics by 166.5% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 28,710 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,915,000 after purchasing an additional 17,938 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in IPG Photonics by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,179 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates acquired a new position in shares of IPG Photonics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $314,000. Finally, Ardevora Asset Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of IPG Photonics by 19.6% in the third quarter. Ardevora Asset Management LLP now owns 172,038 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $17,469,000 after buying an additional 28,238 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.