HighTower Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Universal Display Co. (NASDAQ:OLED)

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its position in Universal Display Co. (NASDAQ:OLED) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,725 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 407 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Universal Display were worth $837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in OLED. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Universal Display by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 799,352 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $167,825,000 after purchasing an additional 15,015 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Universal Display by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 683,822 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $99,975,000 after buying an additional 251,557 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Universal Display by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 437,592 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $63,976,000 after buying an additional 42,218 shares during the period. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Universal Display by 46.0% in the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 365,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $76,614,000 after buying an additional 115,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Universal Display by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 341,019 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $49,857,000 after acquiring an additional 7,147 shares during the period. 78.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on OLED. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Universal Display from $215.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Universal Display from $207.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Universal Display from $234.00 to $203.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Oppenheimer decreased 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 report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Universal Display from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.43.

Universal Display Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ OLED opened at $149.74 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $149.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.57. Universal Display Co. has a 52-week low of $140.17 and a 52-week high of $237.00. The company has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.40.

Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $162.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.75 million. Universal Display had a net margin of 34.29% and a return on equity of 15.51%. As a group, analysts forecast that Universal Display Co. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Display Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is an increase from Universal Display’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Universal Display’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Universal Display Company Profile

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.