Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Lowers Stock Position in Vishay Precision Group, Inc. $VPG

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC cut its holdings in shares of Vishay Precision Group, Inc. (NYSE:VPG) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,657 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 7,125 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Vishay Precision Group were worth $1,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in shares of Vishay Precision Group by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 23,925 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vishay Precision Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $277,000. K2 Principal Fund L.P. grew its position in shares of Vishay Precision Group by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. K2 Principal Fund L.P. now owns 10,900 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Vishay Precision Group by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 18,654 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vishay Precision Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,000. 87.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vishay Precision Group Stock Performance

NYSE:VPG opened at $138.79 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $88.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.04. Vishay Precision Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.49 and a 1-year high of $148.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.47 and a quick ratio of 2.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 308.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 1.46.

Vishay Precision Group (NYSE:VPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter. Vishay Precision Group had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 2.28%. The firm had revenue of $84.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.08 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Vishay Precision Group, Inc. will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VPG. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Vishay Precision Group from $63.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vishay Precision Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Vishay Precision Group from $54.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vishay Precision Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vishay Precision Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vishay Precision Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.67.

Vishay Precision Group Profile

Vishay Precision Group (NYSE: VPG) specializes in the design, manufacture and calibration of precision sensors, instrumentation and measurement systems used in a broad range of applications. Its product portfolio includes load cells, tension links, weighing modules, torque transducers, digital indicators and data acquisition systems. These solutions serve critical requirements for accuracy, reliability and repeatability in sectors such as industrial automation, test and measurement, medical devices, food and beverage processing, aerospace and defense.

The company traces its roots to the sensor and measurement division of Vishay Intertechnology, Inc, from which it was spun off as an independent public company in March 2016.