ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Shares of ACM Research, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACMR) gapped up before the market opened on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $53.10, but opened at $56.35. ACM Research shares last traded at $56.56, with a volume of 106,915 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ACMR shares. Zacks Research lowered ACM Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded ACM Research from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Craig Hallum restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of ACM Research in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $90.00) on shares of ACM Research in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group assumed coverage on ACM Research in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $136.00 target price on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.75.

ACM Research Trading Up 7.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23 and a beta of 2.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $74.22 and its 200 day moving average is $75.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 3.66.

ACM Research (NASDAQ:ACMR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The specialty retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $292.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $269.28 million. ACM Research had a net margin of 14.48% and a return on equity of 4.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 36.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that ACM Research, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at ACM Research

In related news, Director Haiping Dun sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.13, for a total value of $405,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $405,650. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider David Wang sold 70,000 shares of ACM Research stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.59, for a total value of $5,221,300.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 802,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,873,989.72. This trade represents a 8.02% 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ACM Research

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ACM Research by 16,878.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of ACM Research by 207.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 719,023 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,286,000 after purchasing an additional 485,282 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of ACM Research by 33.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 402,412 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $15,835,000 after purchasing an additional 100,700 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of ACM Research by 73.7% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 373,987 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $14,716,000 after purchasing an additional 158,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of ACM Research in the second quarter valued at $41,402,000. Institutional investors own 66.75% of the company’s stock.

About ACM Research

ACM Research, Inc (NASDAQ: ACMR) develops, manufactures and sells semiconductor wafer-processing equipment used by integrated device manufacturers, foundries and advanced packaging companies. Its systems are designed to support processes involved in producing semiconductor devices, including wafer cleaning, surface preparation and related fabrication steps.

The company’s product portfolio includes single-wafer cleaning systems, batch wafer-cleaning equipment, wet-processing systems and tools for specialized applications such as wafer bevel cleaning and advanced packaging.