JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Camtek Ltd. $CAMT

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Camtek by 42.8% during Q3, buying 15,490 shares to own 51,694 shares worth about $5.43 million, while institutional investors now hold roughly 41.93% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $166.75, as major firms like Bank of America and Morgan Stanley recently raised targets to about $160–$161.
• Camtek reported Q results showing $0.81 EPS (missed by $0.02) and revenue of $128.12 million (up 9.2% year-over-year), while trading at a high valuation (PE ~168.8) and a market cap of about $7.27 billion.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ:CAMT - Free Report) by 42.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 51,694 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,490 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.11% of Camtek worth $5,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAMT. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Camtek by 2.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,877 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Camtek by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 952 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Camtek by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,841 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Camtek by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,420 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,333,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palisades Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Camtek by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,299 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CAMT shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Camtek from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Bank of America upped their price target on Camtek from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Camtek from $151.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Northland Securities cut Camtek from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Camtek in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Camtek currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $166.75.

Camtek Stock Up 4.7%

CAMT stock opened at $158.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 168.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.56. Camtek Ltd. has a 52 week low of $47.41 and a 52 week high of $180.83. The company has a quick ratio of 7.31, a current ratio of 8.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $156.29 and a 200 day moving average of $128.81.

Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The semiconductor company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.02). Camtek had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 23.61%. The company had revenue of $128.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $127.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Camtek Ltd. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

About Camtek

Camtek Ltd. NASDAQ: CAMT is a provider of automated inspection and metrology solutions for the semiconductor and printed circuit board (PCB) industries. The company develops, manufactures and markets a suite of inline and stand-alone systems that perform high‐resolution 2D and 3D measurements, defect review and process control. Its products are used by integrated device manufacturers, foundries, OSAT (outsourced semiconductor assembly and test) providers, and PCB fabricators to optimize yield, improve product quality and reduce production costs.

Camtek's core offerings include wafer inspection systems that detect and classify defects on patterned wafers, patterned wafer metrology tools for overlay and critical dimension measurements, and advanced packaging inspection platforms for 3D ICs and fan-out wafer-level packaging.

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