Morgan Stanley Gives The Thumbs Up to Himax Technologies, Inc. (ADR) (HIMX)

Himax Technologies, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:HIMX) is on watch after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’ and set a price target of $11.50 per share, up from the previous $8. The investment bank’s upgrade today follows a similar upgrade earlier this month from Roth Capital, whose analyst upgraded Himax Technologies, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:HIMX) to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ and set a $10 price target, up from his previous $7.

Wall Street is optimistic on Himax Technologies, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:HIMX) due in part to the expectation that the company will be able to capture some of the 3D sensing opportunity that will purportedly be unleashed in the next generation of smartphones. In particular, analysts at Mizuho think Himax Technologies, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:HIMX) might be one of the companies whose tech (as it relates to diffractive optical elements) might enable 3D sensing in the iPhone 8 (if it does indeed have 3D sensing).

What Does The Smart Money Sentiment Say?

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According to our data, elite funds weren’t as bullish on Himax Technologies, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:HIMX) in the fourth quarter as they were in the third quarter. Of the 742 top funds in our database, 17 were long Himax Technologies, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:HIMX) at the end of the fourth quarter, down 9 funds from the previous quarter. Among the funds that cut their stakes include David Halpert‘s Prince Street Capital Management, which trimmed its holdings by 74% to 1.5 million shares, and Ken Hahn‘s Quentec Asset Management, which cut its stake 71% to just under 700,000 shares at the end of 2016.

The Bottom Line

Wall Street is giving the thumbs up to Himax Technologies, Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:HIMX) due to the stock’s strong rally in recent weeks, and due to the company’s potential 3D sensing opportunity.

Disclosure:None

Wall Street Bull