Eukles Asset Management Has $182,000 Stock Position in IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP)

Eukles Asset Management trimmed its position in shares of IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) by 72.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,681 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,480 shares during the period. Eukles Asset Management’s holdings in IPG Photonics were worth $182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in IPG Photonics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,901,000. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in IPG Photonics in the 1st quarter worth $30,069,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of IPG Photonics by 18.9% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,701,795 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $186,788,000 after buying an additional 270,190 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in IPG Photonics by 83.6% in the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 578,300 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $63,474,000 after acquiring an additional 263,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of IPG Photonics by 137.3% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 385,300 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,291,000 after acquiring an additional 222,900 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IPGP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of IPG Photonics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price 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 cut shares of IPG Photonics from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $111.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn restated a “buy” rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.20.

IPG Photonics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IPGP traded down $0.21 on Friday, hitting $84.38. The stock had a trading volume of 86,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 295,466. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $88.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.74. IPG Photonics Co. has a twelve month low of $83.00 and a twelve month high of $141.85. The company has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.74 and a beta of 1.19.

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

IPG Photonics declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other IPG Photonics news, Director Eric Meurice sold 629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $62,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,649,100. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other IPG Photonics news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.68, for a total transaction of $856,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,219,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,575,242.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 16,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,649,100. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,629 shares of company stock worth $1,815,300 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 37.10% of the company’s stock.

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.