Universal Display Co. (NASDAQ:OLED) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Universal Display Co. (NASDAQ:OLED) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,410,000 shares, a decline of 18.5% from the January 31st total of 1,730,000 shares. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 702,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Universal Display from $200.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Universal Display from $234.00 to $203.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Universal Display from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Universal Display from $215.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Universal Display from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.43.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OLED. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Universal Display by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,784,099 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $699,435,000 after buying an additional 67,590 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Universal Display by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,536,513 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $370,838,000 after acquiring an additional 69,043 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Universal Display by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 901,315 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $131,806,000 after purchasing an additional 101,963 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Universal Display by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 683,822 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $99,975,000 after purchasing an additional 251,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Universal Display in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,924,000. Institutional investors own 78.19% of the company’s stock.

Universal Display Stock Performance

Shares of OLED opened at $145.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.39. Universal Display has a 52-week low of $140.17 and a 52-week high of $237.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.01.

Universal Display (NASDAQ:OLED) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $162.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.75 million. Universal Display had a net margin of 34.29% and a return on equity of 15.51%. On average, research analysts forecast that Universal Display will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Display Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. This is an increase from Universal Display’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Universal Display’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.71%.

About Universal Display

Universal Display Corporation engages in the research, development, and commercialization of organic light emitting diode (OLED) technologies and materials for use in display and solid-state lighting applications in the United States and internationally. The company offers PHOLED technologies and materials for displays and lighting products under the UniversalPHOLED brand.