Portolan Capital Management LLC Sells 167,141 Shares of Vishay Precision Group, Inc. $VPG

Portolan Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Vishay Precision Group, Inc. (NYSE:VPG) by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 823,298 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 167,141 shares during the quarter. Vishay Precision Group accounts for about 1.4% of Portolan Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Portolan Capital Management LLC owned 6.20% of Vishay Precision Group worth $26,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Vishay Precision Group by 826.7% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,112 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Vishay Precision Group by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,332 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076 shares during the period. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Vishay Precision Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $80,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Vishay Precision Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in shares of Vishay Precision Group in the second quarter worth approximately $218,000. 87.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VPG has been the subject of several research reports. Lake Street Capital set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Vishay Precision Group and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of Vishay Precision Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vishay Precision Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Vishay Precision Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Loop Capital set a $44.00 price target on Vishay Precision Group in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

Vishay Precision Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VPG opened at $40.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 4.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $543.91 million, a PE ratio of 102.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $45.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.29. Vishay Precision Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.57 and a twelve month high of $56.25.

Vishay Precision Group (NYSE:VPG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.14). Vishay Precision Group had a net margin of 1.72% and a return on equity of 2.16%. The business had revenue of $80.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.08 million. Equities research analysts expect that Vishay Precision Group, Inc. will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

About Vishay Precision Group

Vishay Precision Group (NYSE: VPG) specializes in the design, manufacture and calibration of precision sensors, instrumentation and measurement systems used in a broad range of applications. Its product portfolio includes load cells, tension links, weighing modules, torque transducers, digital indicators and data acquisition systems. These solutions serve critical requirements for accuracy, reliability and repeatability in sectors such as industrial automation, test and measurement, medical devices, food and beverage processing, aerospace and defense.

The company traces its roots to the sensor and measurement division of Vishay Intertechnology, Inc, from which it was spun off as an independent public company in March 2016.