Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $93.07 and last traded at $93.3290, with a volume of 591959 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $98.46.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OLED has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Universal Display from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 22nd. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Universal Display in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Universal Display in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Universal Display from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Universal Display from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Universal Display presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.67.

Universal Display Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $115.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 7.44 and a beta of 1.65.

Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $172.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.35 million. Universal Display had a net margin of 37.21% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Universal Display Corporation will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Display Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from Universal Display’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Universal Display’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.50%.

Institutional Trading of Universal Display

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OLED. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Universal Display by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,069,107 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $728,076,000 after purchasing an additional 460,792 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of Universal Display by 1.9% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,258,378 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $324,371,000 after purchasing an additional 43,070 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Universal Display by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,694,779 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $197,916,000 after purchasing an additional 69,163 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Universal Display by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,109,077 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $129,537,000 after buying an additional 222,108 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Universal Display by 86.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 880,678 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $102,846,000 after buying an additional 408,315 shares during the period. 78.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Universal Display Company Profile

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.