IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) PT Lowered to $68.00 at Citigroup

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) had its target price decreased by analysts at Citigroup from $74.00 to $68.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sell” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 21.57% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective 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. Benchmark lowered their price target on IPG Photonics from $116.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded IPG Photonics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 17th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn reissued a “buy” rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.40.

IPG Photonics Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IPGP traded up $3.15 on Thursday, hitting $86.70. The company had a trading volume of 335,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,330. IPG Photonics has a 1 year low of $80.33 and a 1 year high of $141.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 16.66 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.08.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. IPG Photonics had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 7.67%. The firm had revenue of $252.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $255.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 27.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that IPG Photonics will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

IPG Photonics announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 13th that permits the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at IPG Photonics

In other IPG Photonics news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction of $895,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,209,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $645,691,686.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Eric Meurice sold 788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.30, for a total transaction of $70,368.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,472,646.30. The sale 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 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total value of $895,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,209,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $645,691,686.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,788 shares of company stock worth $2,595,508. 37.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IPG Photonics

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