Eukles Asset Management Lowers Holdings in IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP)

Eukles Asset Management lowered its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) by 72.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,681 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,480 shares during the quarter. Eukles Asset Management’s holdings in IPG Photonics were worth $182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of IPG Photonics by 77.4% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 51,443 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,645,000 after acquiring an additional 22,446 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics by 21.4% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,364 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of IPG Photonics by 24.7% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,842 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics by 309.6% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,876 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 6,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of IPG Photonics by 6.6% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 4,779 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. 93.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,209,599 shares in the company, valued at $645,691,686.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction of $895,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,209,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $645,691,686.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Eric Meurice sold 629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,100. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,629 shares of company stock valued at $1,815,300 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 37.10% of the company’s stock.

IPG Photonics Price Performance

Shares of IPGP traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $84.38. The stock had a trading volume of 86,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 295,466. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $88.47 and its 200 day moving average is $94.74. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 18.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.74 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $298.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $287.03 million. IPG Photonics had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 17.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.91) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that IPG Photonics Co. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IPG Photonics announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 13th that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.