IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) Stock Price Target Lowered at Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup lowered its IPG Photonics price target from $137 to $135 but maintained a Buy rating; the new target implies 90.22% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst views are mostly positive: seven rate the stock Buy, two Hold and one Sell, for a consensus Moderate Buy rating and $131.33 price target.
• IPG Photonics beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.61 versus $0.49 forecast and revenue of $287.5 million, up 14.6% year over year.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by equities researchers at Citigroup from $137.00 to $135.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. Citigroup's price objective suggests a potential upside of 90.22% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on IPGP. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on IPG Photonics from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $92.00 price objective on shares of IPG Photonics in a report on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $131.33.

IPG Photonics Trading Up 8.7%

IPGP stock traded up $5.66 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $70.97. 107,231 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 496,223. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 75.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.00. IPG Photonics has a 1-year low of $61.59 and a 1-year high of $155.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.55.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. IPG Photonics had a return on equity of 3.91% and a net margin of 3.65%. The business had revenue of $287.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $283.31 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that IPG Photonics will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IPG Photonics news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 14,632 shares of IPG Photonics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.18, for a total value of $1,100,033.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 6,622,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $497,859,552.12. The trade was a 0.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director John R. Peeler acquired 2,710 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $73.58 per share, with a total value of $199,401.80. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 20,886 shares in the company, valued at $1,536,791.88. This represents a 14.91% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold 66,458 shares of company stock worth $5,194,276 in the last quarter. 37.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in IPG Photonics during the 2nd quarter valued at $334,429,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of IPG Photonics by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,055,687 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $160,919,000 after acquiring an additional 693,572 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in IPG Photonics by 11.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 909,287 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $106,678,000 after purchasing an additional 90,028 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its holdings in IPG Photonics by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 469,471 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $53,797,000 after acquiring an additional 46,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of IPG Photonics by 49.4% in the first quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 304,916 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $34,940,000 after purchasing an additional 100,866 shares in the last quarter. 93.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About IPG Photonics

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