Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.40.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Down 2.8 %

NASDAQ KLIC opened at $46.21 on Thursday. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a twelve month low of $38.20 and a twelve month high of $56.71. The company has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.57 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.75.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.01). Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative net margin of 9.77% and a negative return on equity of 0.92%. The firm had revenue of $181.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 19th were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This is a boost from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 19th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s payout ratio is currently -66.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Lester A. Wong sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.37, for a total value of $2,782,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 79,636 shares in the company, valued at $3,692,721.32. This represents a 42.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chan Pin Chong sold 9,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.07, for a total transaction of $448,261.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,916 shares in the company, valued at $3,773,870.12. This represents a 10.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 221,121 shares of company stock worth $10,527,843. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 36,329 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,695,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 61.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 85.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 96,604 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,361,000 after buying an additional 44,429 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 27.8% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 88,712 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,977,000 after buying an additional 19,279 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Company Profile

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices. It operates through four segments: Ball Bonding Equipment, Wedge Bonding Equipment, Advanced Solutions, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company offers ball bonding equipment, wafer level bonding equipment, wedge bonding equipment; and advanced display, die-attach, and thermocompression systems and solutions, as well as tools, spares and services for equipment.