IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) Short Interest Up 15.2% in April

IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 867,800 shares, an increase of 15.2% from the March 31st total of 753,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 310,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

IPG Photonics Stock Performance

Shares of IPGP stock traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $88.58. 260,612 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 290,857. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.24. The firm has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 17.53 and a beta of 1.19. IPG Photonics has a twelve month low of $83.00 and a twelve month high of $141.85.

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

IPG Photonics declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IPGP. StockNews.com downgraded IPG Photonics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 17th. Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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, Citigroup cut shares of IPG Photonics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $111.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.20.

Insider Transactions at IPG Photonics

In other IPG Photonics news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 9,000 shares of IPG Photonics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.86, for a total value of $772,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,200,599 shares in the company, valued at $618,243,430.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Eric Meurice sold 629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $62,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,100. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 9,000 shares of IPG Photonics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.86, for a total transaction of $772,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,200,599 shares in the company, valued at $618,243,430.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,629 shares of company stock worth $2,588,040. 33.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IPG Photonics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in IPG Photonics by 127.2% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 259 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of IPG Photonics in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in IPG Photonics during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in IPG Photonics by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 612 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AM Squared Ltd boosted its position in IPG Photonics by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. AM Squared Ltd now owns 600 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.79% of the company’s stock.

IPG Photonics Company 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.