Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT) Stock Price

Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT) had its price objective cut by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $152.00 in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential downside of 0.54% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CAMT. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Camtek in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Camtek in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $170.00 price objective on Camtek in a report on Monday, August 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.75.

Camtek Stock Performance

NASDAQ CAMT opened at $152.82 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 238.78, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.51. The company has a current ratio of 7.38, a quick ratio of 6.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Camtek has a 12-month low of $91.91 and a 12-month high of $215.99.

Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 21.58%. The firm had revenue of $133.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $130.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Camtek will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Camtek

In related news, VP Orit Geva-Dvash sold 508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $88,900.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $910,875. This trade represents a 8.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Ram Langer sold 6,387 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.32, for a total transaction of $1,100,607.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 17,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,021,114.24. This trade represents a 26.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,843 shares of company stock worth $4,514,249. 79.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Camtek

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. grew its stake in Camtek by 38.2% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,302,009 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $349,008,000 after purchasing an additional 636,773 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its position in shares of Camtek by 20.8% during the 1st quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 783,365 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $114,901,000 after purchasing an additional 134,791 shares during the last quarter. Analog Century Management LP raised its stake in shares of Camtek by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Analog Century Management LP now owns 693,720 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,774,000 after purchasing an additional 89,461 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Camtek during the 1st quarter worth $8,296,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Camtek in the 1st quarter worth about $7,225,000. 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.