Baillie Gifford & Co. Reduces Stake in IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP)

Baillie Gifford & Co. decreased its position in shares of IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP - Free Report) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 326,358 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 39,527 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned approximately 0.70% of IPG Photonics worth $35,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of IPGP. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in IPG Photonics by 127.2% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 259 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new stake in IPG Photonics in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in IPG Photonics by 39.4% during the 3rd 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. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in IPG Photonics by 123.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 837 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the period. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of IPG Photonics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $89,000. Institutional investors own 93.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Eric Meurice sold 629 shares of the business'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 sale, the director now owns 16,491 shares in the company, valued at $1,649,100. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other IPG Photonics news, Director Eric Meurice sold 629 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $62,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,649,100. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.68, for a total transaction of $856,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,219,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at $618,575,242.32. 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. Corporate insiders own 33.50% of the company's stock.

IPG Photonics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IPGP traded up $2.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $89.86. The company had a trading volume of 153,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 306,331. IPG Photonics Co. has a one year low of $83.00 and a one year high of $141.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $89.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.27. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 1.19.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP - Get Free Report) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $287.03 million. IPG Photonics had a net margin of 17.00% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.91) earnings per share. 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 of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

IPG Photonics 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.