Universal Display Co. (NASDAQ:OLED) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Universal Display Co. (NASDAQ:OLED) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $207.86.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Universal Display from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Universal Display from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Universal Display from $242.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lawrence Lacerte bought 742 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $180.89 per share, with a total value of $134,220.38. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 122,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,135,871.08. This represents a 0.61 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Display

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OLED. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Universal Display by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,812 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Universal Display by 95.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 189,603 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,720,000 after purchasing an additional 92,410 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Universal Display by 35.5% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Universal Display by 41.3% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 8,277 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 2,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Universal Display by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,037 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,477,000 after buying an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. 78.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Universal Display Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of Universal Display stock opened at $148.07 on Monday. Universal Display has a twelve month low of $145.26 and a twelve month high of $237.00. The company has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50 day moving average is $160.63 and its 200 day moving average is $188.12.

Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $161.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $165.28 million. Universal Display had a return on equity of 15.75% and a net margin of 36.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Universal Display will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Display Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Universal Display’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.13%.

About Universal Display

Universal Display Corporation engages in the research, development, and commercialization of organic light emitting diode (OLED) technologies and materials for use in display and solid-state lighting applications in the United States and internationally. The company offers PHOLED technologies and materials for displays and lighting products under the UniversalPHOLED brand.