IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) Short Interest Up 12.2% in October

IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,650,000 shares, an increase of 12.2% from the September 30th total of 1,470,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 254,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.5 days. Currently, 6.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

IPG Photonics Price Performance

IPGP traded down $2.35 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $80.96. 386,307 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 267,146. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of -23.27 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $71.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.25. IPG Photonics has a 1-year low of $61.86 and a 1-year high of $111.11.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.10. IPG Photonics had a net margin of 12.67% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The firm had revenue of $233.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $227.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. IPG Photonics’s revenue for the quarter was down 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that IPG Photonics will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on IPGP. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of IPG Photonics from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of IPG Photonics from $127.00 to $100.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, IPG Photonics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of IPG Photonics by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,056,642 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $277,207,000 after buying an additional 11,830 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in IPG Photonics by 14.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 996,029 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $84,054,000 after acquiring an additional 125,958 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in IPG Photonics by 1.3% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 916,877 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $77,375,000 after acquiring an additional 11,548 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its stake in IPG Photonics by 2.2% in the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 490,959 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $41,432,000 after acquiring an additional 10,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of IPG Photonics by 58.7% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 489,181 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $41,282,000 after buying an additional 180,951 shares during the last quarter. 93.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.