Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR)

ACM Research, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACMR) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 21,920 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 234% compared to the typical volume of 6,555 call options.

ACM Research Price Performance

NASDAQ:ACMR traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $69.18. The company had a trading volume of 180,580 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,407,878. The company has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of 33.04 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 3.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. ACM Research has a 52-week low of $26.10 and a 52-week high of $127.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $87.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.26.

ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The specialty retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $292.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $269.28 million. ACM Research had a return on equity of 4.08% and a net margin of 14.48%.ACM Research’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that ACM Research will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACMR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded ACM Research from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of ACM Research in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of ACM Research in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised ACM Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $125.00 price objective on shares of ACM Research and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ACM Research has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $122.75.

Insider Activity at ACM Research

In related news, insider Sotheara Cheav sold 5,399 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.18, for a total transaction of $449,088.82. Following the sale, the insider owned 100,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,318,166.36. This represents a 5.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Haiping Dun sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.13, for a total transaction of $405,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $405,650. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 24.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ACM Research

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in ACM Research by 11,899.8% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,575,587 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $961,266,000 after acquiring an additional 7,512,456 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in ACM Research by 16,878.8% in the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,860,874 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $70,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,849,914 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in ACM Research by 444.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,342,136 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $52,947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095,634 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of ACM Research by 1,406.4% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,082,982 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $42,740,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011,088 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of ACM Research by 58.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,392,306 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $54,926,000 after purchasing an additional 515,340 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.75% of the company’s stock.

About ACM Research

ACM Research, Inc (NASDAQ:ACMR) designs, develops and markets wet processing equipment for the semiconductor industry. The company focuses on advanced wafer cleaning technologies that address critical contamination-control requirements for logic, memory and advanced packaging applications. Since its founding in 2003, ACM Research has engineered modular platform tools that can be configured for a range of spin, scrub and batch cleaning processes.

Its product portfolio encompasses single-wafer spin cleaning systems featuring high-purity megasonic capabilities, dynamic chemical scrubbing modules for post-CMP residue removal and batch-process cleaning equipment designed for high-throughput production environments.