Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $130.60.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on OLED shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Universal Display from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Universal Display from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. Citigroup lowered their price target on Universal Display from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Universal Display in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm set a $168.00 price objective on Universal Display in a research report on Friday, May 1st.

Universal Display Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OLED opened at $90.84 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $93.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.26. Universal Display has a 1 year low of $83.64 and a 1 year high of $163.21.

Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.37). Universal Display had a net margin of 34.08% and a return on equity of 12.34%. The firm had revenue of $142.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Universal Display will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Display Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. Universal Display’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Universal Display

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vestor Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Universal Display by 968.4% in the 1st quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 2,760 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Universal Display by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 124,570 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $11,418,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Universal Display during the first quarter valued at $969,000. Amundi raised its stake in Universal Display by 54.0% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 459,316 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,079,000 after buying an additional 161,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Universal Display by 22.6% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 52,430 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,806,000 after buying an additional 9,665 shares during the last quarter. 78.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Universal Display

Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ: OLED) is a technology company specializing in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) solutions. The company develops and commercializes materials, technologies and software used in the creation of OLED displays and lighting. Its offerings include proprietary phosphorescent OLED (PHOLED) materials, display driver integrated circuits and process technologies that enable higher efficiency, longer lifetimes and improved color performance for a range of display and lighting applications.

Universal Display’s core business is licensing its extensive OLED patent portfolio to display manufacturers and providing them with the key organic materials needed for device fabrication.