Short Interest in IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) Grows By 15.2%

IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 867,800 shares, an increase of 15.2% from the March 31st total of 753,500 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 310,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on IPGP. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of IPG Photonics from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com cut IPG Photonics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 17th. Finally, Citigroup cut 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.20.

IPG Photonics Trading Up 0.2 %

IPGP stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Monday, hitting $88.58. 260,612 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 290,857. IPG Photonics has a 52-week low of $83.00 and a 52-week high of $141.85. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $87.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 17.53 and a beta of 1.19.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.89 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $298.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.91) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that IPG Photonics will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

IPG Photonics announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Eric Meurice sold 629 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $62,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,100. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total value of $895,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,209,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $645,691,686.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Eric Meurice sold 629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $62,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,100. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,629 shares of company stock worth $2,588,040 over the last 90 days. 33.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its position 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. acquired a new stake in shares of IPG Photonics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of IPG Photonics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. AM Squared Ltd grew 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 acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in IPG Photonics by 39.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 612 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 93.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.