Investors Purchase Large Volume of Camtek Put Options (NASDAQ:CAMT)

Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ:CAMT) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders purchased 5,648 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 419% compared to the average daily volume of 1,088 put options.

Camtek Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CAMT traded down $1.56 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $57.44. The stock had a trading volume of 220,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 562,126. The company’s 50 day moving average is $79.31 and its 200-day moving average is $79.78. Camtek has a 12-month low of $56.44 and a 12-month high of $140.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a current ratio of 5.00. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.38.

Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.06). Camtek had a return on equity of 24.99% and a net margin of 27.61%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Camtek will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Camtek

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CAMT. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Camtek by 78.8% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 329 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Camtek by 3,005.3% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 330,716 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,408,000 after purchasing an additional 320,066 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Camtek by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 486,606 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,855,000 after purchasing an additional 67,250 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Camtek by 193,738.7% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 60,090 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,798,000 after purchasing an additional 60,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Camtek by 156,400.0% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 31,300 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,499,000 after buying an additional 31,280 shares during the last quarter. 41.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CAMT. StockNews.com cut shares of Camtek from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Camtek from $120.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Camtek in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Northland Securities upped their target price on Camtek from $102.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Camtek from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.22.

About Camtek

Camtek Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells inspection and metrology equipment for semiconductor industry. The company provides Eagle-i, a system that delivers 2D inspection and metrology capabilities; Eagle-AP, which addresses the advanced packaging market using software and hardware technologies that deliver superior 2D and 3D inspection and metrology capabilities on the same platform; and Golden Eagle, a panel inspection and metrology system to address the challenges fanout wafer level packaging applications.