IPG Photonics' (IPGP) "Hold" Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their hold rating on shares of IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP - Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of IPG Photonics from a neutral rating to a sell rating and decreased their target price for the company from $111.00 to $74.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com lowered IPG Photonics from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, February 17th. Seaport Res Ptn reissued a buy rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on IPG Photonics from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $111.60.

IPG Photonics Stock Performance

Shares of IPGP stock traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $83.55. The company had a trading volume of 322,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,846. IPG Photonics has a 12-month low of $80.33 and a 12-month high of $141.85. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 17.53 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $87.66 and a 200-day moving average of $94.08.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.04. IPG Photonics had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 17.00%. The company had revenue of $252.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.53 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 27.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that IPG Photonics will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

IPG Photonics declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 13th that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding 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 usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at IPG Photonics

In related news, Director Eric Meurice sold 788 shares of IPG Photonics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.30, for a total value of $70,368.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,472,646.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Eric Meurice sold 788 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.30, for a total transaction of $70,368.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,472,646.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.68, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,788 shares of company stock worth $2,595,508 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 33.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of IPG Photonics

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in IPG Photonics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of IPG Photonics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AM Squared Ltd lifted its holdings 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 worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.79% of the company's stock.

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.