Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on OLED. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Universal Display from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. BTIG Research lowered shares of Universal Display to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $135.00 target price on shares of Universal Display in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Roth Capital set a $168.00 price target on shares of Universal Display in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Universal Display from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $116.33.

Universal Display Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of OLED stock opened at $88.92 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53 and a beta of 1.54. Universal Display has a fifty-two week low of $76.42 and a fifty-two week high of $153.38.

Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.03. Universal Display had a net margin of 32.24% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The firm had revenue of $152.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. Universal Display’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Universal Display will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Display Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Universal Display’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.43%.

Institutional Trading of Universal Display

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Universal Display by 6.4% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,680 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Universal Display by 2.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,766 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,972,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Universal Display by 1.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 112,982 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $17,451,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Universal Display in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,220,000. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Universal Display by 64.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 982 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.