ACM Research Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:ACMR)

ACM Research, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACMR) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 19,545 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 197% compared to the average volume of 6,574 call options.

ACM Research Stock Down 1.9%

NASDAQ ACMR traded down $1.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $79.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 100,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,449,184. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.93 and a beta of 1.96. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.43. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. ACM Research has a twelve month low of $24.14 and a twelve month high of $127.19.

ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The specialty retailer reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.19. ACM Research had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 4.08%. The firm had revenue of $292.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $269.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that ACM Research will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David H. Wang sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.05, for a total transaction of $5,403,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 802,708 shares in the company, valued at $72,283,855.40. This represents a 6.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Sotheara Cheav sold 13,351 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.15, for a total transaction of $1,136,837.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 100,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,515,170.30. The trade was a 11.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 123,752 shares of company stock worth $10,752,198. Company insiders own 24.36% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in ACM Research by 16,878.8% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,860,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $70,583,000 after buying an additional 1,849,914 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in ACM Research by 444.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,342,136 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $52,947,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095,634 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of ACM Research by 1,406.4% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,082,982 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $42,740,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011,088 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of ACM Research by 58.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,392,306 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $54,926,000 after acquiring an additional 515,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of ACM Research by 207.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 719,023 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,286,000 after acquiring an additional 485,282 shares during the last quarter. 66.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ACMR. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $90.00) on shares of ACM Research in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised ACM Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings raised ACM Research from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of ACM Research in a research report on Monday. Finally, Seaport Research Partners started coverage on ACM Research in a research note on Monday, May 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.33.

ACM Research Company Profile

ACM Research, Inc (NASDAQ:ACMR) designs, develops and markets wet processing equipment for the semiconductor industry. The company focuses on advanced wafer cleaning technologies that address critical contamination-control requirements for logic, memory and advanced packaging applications. Since its founding in 2003, ACM Research has engineered modular platform tools that can be configured for a range of spin, scrub and batch cleaning processes.

Its product portfolio encompasses single-wafer spin cleaning systems featuring high-purity megasonic capabilities, dynamic chemical scrubbing modules for post-CMP residue removal and batch-process cleaning equipment designed for high-throughput production environments.