IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from Needham & Company LLC

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) had its target price trimmed by Needham & Company LLC from $120.00 to $105.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on IPGP. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on IPG Photonics from $150.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.67.

IPG Photonics Trading Up 5.3%

Shares of IPGP traded up $3.28 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $65.31. The stock had a trading volume of 441,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 341,936. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.55. IPG Photonics has a one year low of $61.59 and a one year high of $155.82. The firm has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 69.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.00.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $287.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.31 million. IPG Photonics had a net margin of 2.58% and a return on equity of 3.39%. IPG Photonics’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that IPG Photonics will post 1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at IPG Photonics

In other news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 18,091 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.14, for a total value of $1,359,357.74. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,652,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,845,706.88. This represents a 0.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Eugene Scherbakov sold 3,048 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.30, for a total transaction of $259,994.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 45,162 shares in the company, valued at $3,852,318.60. The trade was a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 66,458 shares of company stock valued at $5,194,276 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 37.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IPG Photonics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IPGP. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of IPG Photonics by 11.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 909,287 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $106,678,000 after purchasing an additional 90,028 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in IPG Photonics by 759.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 182,823 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,311,000 after purchasing an additional 161,547 shares during the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in IPG Photonics in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,938,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in IPG Photonics by 173.8% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 85,700 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,820,000 after purchasing an additional 54,400 shares during the period. Finally, Westport Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in IPG Photonics in the 2nd quarter valued at $9,092,000. 93.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About IPG Photonics

IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ:IPGP) develops and manufactures high-performance fiber lasers, laser systems, optical amplifiers and related components. Its product portfolio includes single-mode and multi-mode fiber lasers, pulsed lasers, diode lasers, beam-delivery systems and other specialized photonics products.

The company’s technologies are used primarily for industrial materials processing applications, including cutting, welding, marking, drilling, cladding and additive manufacturing.