Is it Safe to Keep Your IPG Photonics (IPGP) Stake?

Artisan Partners, a high value-added investment management firm, published its ‘Artisan Mid Cap Fund’ third quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. A return of 3.06% was recorded by its Investor Class: ARTMX, 3.11% by its Advisor Class: APDMX, and 3.12% by its Institutional Class: APHMX, in the third quarter of 2021, all outpacing the Russell Midcap® Growth Index that delivered a -0.76% return, and the Russell Midcap® Index that was down by -0.93% for the same period. You can take a look at the fund’s top 5 holdings to have an idea about their best picks for 2021.

Artisan Mid-Cap Fund, in its Q3 2021 investor letter, mentioned IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ: IPGP) and discussed its stance on the firm. IPG Photonics Corporation is an Oxford, Massachusetts-based photonics company with an $8.7 billion market capitalization. IPGP delivered a -26.76% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -18.35%. The stock closed at $163.90 per share on November 19, 2021.

Here is what Artisan Mid-Cap Fund has to say about IPG Photonics Corporation  in its Q3 2021 investor letter:

“IPG Photonics is the leading provider of fiber laser technology for industrial automation markets. Fiber lasers are faster, more powerful and efficient, yet require less maintenance and labor to operate than traditional lasers used in industrial applications—cutting and welding, marking and engraving, and micro-processing. When we initiated our campaign, we believed the company was poised to benefit from additional use cases for fiber lasers, including in the manufacturing processes of electric vehicle batteries and solar panels and in medical applications such as kidney stone removal. However, the company recently indicated supply chain delays and slowing growth in China— nearly 40% of the company’s revenue—were weighing on growth, and the exposure to emerging applications is not yet meaningful enough to offset these headwinds. With limited visibility into when these challenges may abate, we exited our GardenSM position in favor of other industrial technology holdings with stronger fundamental trends.”

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Based on our calculations, IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ: IPGP) was not able to clinch a spot in our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. IPGP was in 23 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the first half of 2021, compared to 31 funds in the previous quarter. IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ: IPGP) delivered a -2.07% return in the past 3 months.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.