Dataproducts Urged to Lift Price of Stock

David J. Greene & Co., a New York investment firm that owns 5.2% of Dataproducts, has urged the Woodland Hills company to take additional steps to lift the price of its stock.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Greene said it has held talks with Dataproducts management in which the firm urged that Dataproducts buy back more of its shares. The computer-printer maker recently repurchased 20% of its stock for $10 a share.

The stock has been trading at about $6.25 a share, and Greene said it urged Dataproducts to buy back more shares “to take advantage of the current depressed price,” the filing said.

Greene also urged the company to stem the losses from its development of a color ink jet printer, by turning the development into a joint venture with outside parties or selling the printer program outright.

Dataproducts Chairman Jack C. Davis did not return telephone calls requesting comment on the filing.