Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Universal Display Call Options (NASDAQ:OLED)

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OLED has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Universal Display in a report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Universal Display from $100.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. BTIG Research cut Universal Display to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Universal Display from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Universal Display from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $116.33.

Universal Display Stock Performance

OLED traded up $1.68 during trading on Thursday, reaching $81.59. 325,793 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 794,093. Universal Display has a fifty-two week low of $76.42 and a fifty-two week high of $153.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $83.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 19.79 and a beta of 1.56.

Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.03. Universal Display had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 32.24%.The firm had revenue of $152.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Universal Display will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Display Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. Universal Display’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Display

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

Universal Display Company Profile

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.