Vishay Precision Group, Inc. $VPG Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Vishay Precision Group, Inc. (NYSE:VPG) by 50.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,909 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 5,983 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Vishay Precision Group were worth $257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vishay Precision Group by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 937,553 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $30,049,000 after acquiring an additional 24,235 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Vishay Precision Group by 2.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 342,135 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $9,614,000 after purchasing an additional 8,923 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Vishay Precision Group by 120.7% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 311,377 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $11,988,000 after purchasing an additional 170,307 shares during the last quarter. Tieton Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Vishay Precision Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Tieton Capital Management LLC now owns 311,226 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $11,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in Vishay Precision Group during the fourth quarter worth $9,822,000. 87.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on VPG shares. Weiss Ratings raised Vishay Precision Group from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on Vishay Precision Group from $63.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vishay Precision Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research cut shares of Vishay Precision Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Lake Street Capital raised their target price on shares of Vishay Precision Group from $54.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.67.

Vishay Precision Group Stock Performance

Vishay Precision Group stock opened at $92.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.97 and a current ratio of 4.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $120.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.01. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 204.64, a PEG ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 1.43. Vishay Precision Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.58 and a fifty-two week high of $151.78.

Vishay Precision Group (NYSE:VPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter. Vishay Precision Group had a return on equity of 2.28% and a net margin of 1.85%.The company had revenue of $84.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.08 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Vishay Precision Group, Inc. will post 0.97 EPS for the current fiscal 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.