Investors Buy High Volume of Universal Display Call Options (NASDAQ:OLED)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Investors bought 4,769 Universal Display call options, about 407% above the typical daily volume of 940 contracts.
• Shares fell 1% to $77.62, below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The stock has traded between $70.77 and $153.38 over the past year.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Universal Display has an average “Hold” rating and a $114 consensus price target, while recent analysts have lowered targets and Citigroup downgraded the stock to “Sell.”

Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 4,769 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 407% compared to the typical daily volume of 940 call options.

Institutional Trading of Universal Display

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OLED. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Universal Display in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. NFSG Corp acquired a new position in shares of Universal Display during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Universal Display during the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Universal Display by 347.8% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 703 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Universal Display by 373.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 965 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.19% of the company's stock.

Universal Display Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:OLED traded down $0.79 during trading on Friday, reaching $77.62. The stock had a trading volume of 445,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 790,636. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $81.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.23. Universal Display has a one year low of $70.77 and a one year high of $153.38. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.80 and a beta of 1.53.

Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.03. The firm 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 revenue was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Universal Display will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Display Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 16th. Universal Display's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $120.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Universal Display in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Universal Display from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC dropped 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 report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup lowered Universal Display from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $114.00.

About Universal Display

Universal Display Corporation develops and commercializes technologies and materials used in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays and lighting. The company's portfolio includes phosphorescent OLED (PHOLED) technologies, which are designed to improve display efficiency, as well as OLED material systems and related technologies.

Universal Display generates revenue primarily through licensing its OLED intellectual property and selling OLED materials, including phosphorescent emitter materials and related products.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.