IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) Major Shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I Sells 9,000 Shares

IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.86, for a total transaction of $772,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,200,599 shares in the company, valued at $618,243,430.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Valentin Gapontsev Trust I also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 25th, Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of IPG Photonics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction of $895,600.00.
• On Friday, February 23rd, Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of IPG Photonics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.68, for a total transaction of $856,800.00.

IPG Photonics Stock Performance

IPGP stock opened at $88.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.27. IPG Photonics Co. has a one year low of $83.00 and a one year high of $141.85.

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

IPG Photonics announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 13th that permits the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IPG Photonics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in IPG Photonics by 127.2% in the third 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 period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in IPG Photonics during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in IPG Photonics during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in IPG Photonics by 39.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 612 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AM Squared Ltd boosted its holdings in IPG Photonics by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. AM Squared Ltd now owns 600 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 93.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.