Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Purchases 123 Shares of IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,302 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 123 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in IPG Photonics were worth $1,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in IPG Photonics by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,039,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $308,587,000 after acquiring an additional 85,984 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in IPG Photonics by 9.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 836,794 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $84,968,000 after purchasing an additional 73,182 shares in the last quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in IPG Photonics by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 248,273 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,210,000 after purchasing an additional 8,098 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in IPG Photonics by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 214,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,312,000 after purchasing an additional 4,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in IPG Photonics by 636.6% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 204,502 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,197,000 after purchasing an additional 176,739 shares in the last quarter. 93.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IPG Photonics Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of IPG Photonics stock opened at $88.05 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06, a PEG ratio of 16.93 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $87.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.40. IPG Photonics Co. has a 52-week low of $83.00 and a 52-week high of $141.85.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $298.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $287.03 million. IPG Photonics had a net margin of 17.00% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.91) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that IPG Photonics Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on IPGP. StockNews.com lowered IPG Photonics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of IPG Photonics from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup downgraded shares of IPG Photonics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $111.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn reissued a “buy” rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.20.

Insider Activity at IPG Photonics

In related news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.68, for a total transaction of $856,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,219,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,575,242.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.68, for a total transaction of $856,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,219,599 shares in the company, valued at $618,575,242.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric Meurice sold 629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 16,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,100. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,629 shares of company stock worth $1,815,300. 37.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.