Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ:CAMT)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $168.06, but opened at $158.69. Camtek shares last traded at $159.44, with a volume of 51,845 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on CAMT shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Camtek from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Camtek from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Camtek from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Camtek from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Camtek from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.33.

Camtek Trading Down 6.0%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $179.96 and a 200 day moving average of $157.19. The company has a current ratio of 8.35, a quick ratio of 7.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 181.16, a PEG ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.54.

Camtek (NASDAQ:CAMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.01. Camtek had a return on equity of 22.26% and a net margin of 9.63%.The firm had revenue of $121.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.15 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Camtek Ltd. will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Camtek

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Camtek by 14.7% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 4,020,683 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $422,373,000 after buying an additional 513,956 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in Camtek by 38.2% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,302,009 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $349,008,000 after acquiring an additional 636,773 shares in the last quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. lifted its stake in Camtek by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. now owns 2,099,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $220,537,000 after acquiring an additional 497,918 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its position in Camtek by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,318,396 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $140,205,000 after acquiring an additional 140,796 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Camtek by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,086,242 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $116,615,000 after acquiring an additional 7,220 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.93% of the company’s stock.

Camtek Company Profile

Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ: CAMT) is a provider of automated inspection and metrology solutions for the semiconductor and printed circuit board (PCB) industries. The company develops, manufactures and markets a suite of inline and stand-alone systems that perform high‐resolution 2D and 3D measurements, defect review and process control. Its products are used by integrated device manufacturers, foundries, OSAT (outsourced semiconductor assembly and test) providers, and PCB fabricators to optimize yield, improve product quality and reduce production costs.

Camtek’s core offerings include wafer inspection systems that detect and classify defects on patterned wafers, patterned wafer metrology tools for overlay and critical dimension measurements, and advanced packaging inspection platforms for 3D ICs and fan-out wafer-level packaging.