Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $49.00.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. B. Riley restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 target price (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Friday, November 21st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Zi Yao Lim sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $45,000.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 23,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,067,130. The trade was a 4.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Nelson Munpun Wong sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.53, for a total value of $1,695,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 126,369 shares in the company, valued at $7,143,639.57. The trade was a 19.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 36,004 shares of company stock worth $1,991,450 in the last three months. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 64,220 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,118,000 after purchasing an additional 5,836 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 168.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 49,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,631,000 after buying an additional 31,048 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,080 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after buying an additional 877 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 8.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 155,842 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,140,000 after acquiring an additional 11,522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 55.7% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 66,898 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 23,923 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLIC opened at $57.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -2,876.06 and a beta of 1.63. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a fifty-two week low of $26.63 and a fifty-two week high of $60.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.68.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The semiconductor company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $177.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.84 million. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 1.64% and a net margin of 0.03%.The firm’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 18th were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -4,100.00%.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Company Profile

Kulicke & Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) is a global supplier of semiconductor and LED assembly equipment. The company specializes in the design, development and manufacture of advanced die bonding, wire bonding, flip-chip bumping and wafer-level packaging systems. Its solutions support a wide range of applications in consumer electronics, automotive, communications and other high-growth segments within the semiconductor and LED industries.

Key products include precision wire bonders for microelectronic packaging, die attach systems for chip placement, flip-chip bonders for advanced packaging architectures and LED packaging platforms that enable high-volume production of automotive and general-illumination LEDs.