American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 85,889 Shares of IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of IPG Photonics Co. (NASDAQ:IPGP - Free Report) by 1,076.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,866 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 85,889 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.22% of IPG Photonics worth $6,826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of IPGP. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in IPG Photonics by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 999,649 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $72,694,000 after purchasing an additional 28,606 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its holdings in IPG Photonics by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 534,833 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $39,749,000 after acquiring an additional 43,874 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in IPG Photonics by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 375,546 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $27,310,000 after acquiring an additional 95,199 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in IPG Photonics by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 369,620 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $26,879,000 after acquiring an additional 19,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC increased its stake in IPG Photonics by 375.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 304,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $22,107,000 after purchasing an additional 240,000 shares during the period. 93.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on IPGP shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on IPG Photonics from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of IPG Photonics in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. CL King raised shares of IPG Photonics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $76.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of IPG Photonics from $100.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $85.40.

IPG Photonics Price Performance

IPG Photonics stock traded down $2.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $49.68. 374,876 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 273,744. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $63.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.38. IPG Photonics Co. has a 52-week low of $48.88 and a 52-week high of $92.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.89 and a beta of 0.97.

IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The semiconductor company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.05). IPG Photonics had a negative net margin of 18.58% and a positive return on equity of 2.98%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that IPG Photonics Co. will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

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.