State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Acquires 3,080 Shares of IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in shares of IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 26,226 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 3,080 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in IPG Photonics were worth $2,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in IPG Photonics during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. LHM Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of IPG Photonics in the fourth quarter worth about $1,260,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of IPG Photonics by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,302 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,118,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of IPG Photonics by 636.6% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 204,502 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,197,000 after acquiring an additional 176,739 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in IPG Photonics by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 64,538 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $7,005,000 after acquiring an additional 7,544 shares in the last quarter. 93.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

IPG Photonics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IPGP opened at $88.58 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $87.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 17.53 and a beta of 1.19. IPG Photonics Co. has a one year low of $83.00 and a one year high of $141.85.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 17.00%. The company had revenue of $298.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $287.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.91) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that IPG Photonics Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

IPG Photonics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 13th that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 7.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at IPG Photonics

In related news, major shareholder Valentin Gapontsev Trust I sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.56, for a total transaction of $895,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,209,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $645,691,686.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,000 shares of company stock worth $2,525,140. 33.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.