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

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

Camtek Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of CAMT opened at $59.14 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.00, a quick ratio of 4.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a PE ratio of 24.44, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.38. Camtek has a 1 year low of $56.49 and a 1 year high of $140.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.64.

Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.68 earnings per share (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 fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on CAMT. Northland Securities lifted their target price on shares of Camtek from $102.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered Camtek from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Camtek from $120.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on Camtek from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Camtek in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.22.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Camtek

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its stake in Camtek by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 1,670,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $135,743,000 after buying an additional 154,548 shares during the last quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Camtek by 81.8% in the 4th quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. now owns 1,566,433 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $126,521,000 after acquiring an additional 705,000 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in Camtek by 311.8% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,192,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $96,341,000 after acquiring an additional 903,126 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its holdings in Camtek by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,135,453 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $91,711,000 after purchasing an additional 279,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Camtek by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 983,986 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $80,028,000 after purchasing an additional 14,702 shares in the last quarter. 41.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Camtek Company Profile

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.