Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Camtek shares jumped 5.3% at the open, rising from $142.61 to $151.02 before trading near $150.15.
• Analyst views remain mixed: Morgan Stanley cut its price target to $152 and maintained an “equal weight” rating, while the broader analyst consensus is “Moderate Buy” with a $176.75 average target.
• Camtek beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.78 in EPS and $133.24 million in revenue, up 8% year over year; however, insiders have sold more than $4.5 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ:CAMT - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $142.61, but opened at $151.02. Camtek shares last traded at $150.15, with a volume of 34,129 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAMT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Camtek from $165.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Camtek in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Camtek in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Camtek in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $176.75.

Camtek Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $7.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 238.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $147.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.57.

Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The semiconductor company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.02. Camtek had a return on equity of 21.58% and a net margin of 7.40%.The business had revenue of $133.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $130.44 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Camtek Ltd. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Camtek

In related news, VP Orit Geva-Dvash sold 508 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $88,900.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $910,875. This represents a 8.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Moshe Eisenberg sold 645 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.67, for a total transaction of $111,372.15. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 16,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,803,988.13. This represents a 3.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,843 shares of company stock valued at $4,514,249. 79.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Camtek

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Camtek by 576.7% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 203 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new stake in shares of Camtek in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Camtek by 46.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 298 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Camtek in the second quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Camtek during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. Institutional investors own 41.93% of the company's stock.

About Camtek

Camtek Ltd. NASDAQ: CAMT is an Israel-based semiconductor equipment company that develops, manufactures and sells automated inspection and metrology systems. Its technologies are used to detect defects, measure wafer and package characteristics, and support process control during semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging.

The company's product portfolio includes inspection systems for wafers, substrates and semiconductor packages, as well as metrology solutions and related software.

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