StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED)

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED – Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Universal Display from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 24th. Cowen boosted their target price on Universal Display from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Universal Display from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Universal Display from $130.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Universal Display in a report on Friday, February 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Universal Display currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $146.90.

Universal Display Price Performance

Shares of OLED stock opened at $142.03 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.74. Universal Display has a 1-year low of $89.41 and a 1-year high of $176.41. The company has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.28, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.44.

Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 23rd. The semiconductor company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.43. The business had revenue of $169.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.97 million. Universal Display had a net margin of 34.07% and a return on equity of 17.56%. The company’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Universal Display will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Display Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 17th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 16th. This is a boost from Universal Display’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Universal Display’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.82%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Display

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OLED. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Universal Display by 44.7% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,947 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Universal Display by 2.0% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,647 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Universal Display by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,309,400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $719,455,000 after buying an additional 117,055 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its holdings in Universal Display by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 24,038 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Universal Display by 1.1% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 22,569 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,768,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. 73.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Universal Display Company Profile

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Universal Display Corp. engages in the research, development, and commercialization of organic light emitting diode (OLED) technologies and materials. It also develops and licenses proprietary OLED technologies to manufacturers of products for display applications, such as cell phones, portable media devices, tablets, laptop computers and televisions, and specialty and general lighting products.