Universal Display Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:OLED)

Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 12,174 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,967% compared to the average daily volume of 589 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on OLED. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Universal Display from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research raised Universal Display from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Universal Display from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BTIG Research downgraded Universal Display to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Universal Display from $100.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.33.

Universal Display Stock Performance

NASDAQ OLED opened at $81.16 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $83.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.03. Universal Display has a one year low of $76.42 and a one year high of $153.38. The company has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65 and a beta of 1.56.

Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $152.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.54 million. Universal Display had a net margin of 32.24% and a return on equity of 11.35%. Universal Display’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Universal Display will post 4.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Display Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. Universal Display’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.43%.

Institutional Trading of Universal Display

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lido Advisors LLC raised its position in Universal Display by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 5,783 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Certuity LLC increased its stake in shares of Universal Display by 4.3% during the third quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 2,556 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Universal Display by 5.7% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Universal Display by 0.8% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 13,979 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,008,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Universal Display by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 549 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.19% of the company’s stock.

About Universal Display

Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ: OLED) is a technology company specializing in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) solutions. The company develops and commercializes materials, technologies and software used in the creation of OLED displays and lighting. Its offerings include proprietary phosphorescent OLED (PHOLED) materials, display driver integrated circuits and process technologies that enable higher efficiency, longer lifetimes and improved color performance for a range of display and lighting applications.

Universal Display’s core business is licensing its extensive OLED patent portfolio to display manufacturers and providing them with the key organic materials needed for device fabrication.