Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $60.69 and last traded at $58.9360, with a volume of 322332 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $55.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on KLIC shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Friday, November 21st. B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 price objective (up from $35.00) on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Up 7.9%

The firm has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3,000.55 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.37 and a 200 day moving average of $42.90.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The semiconductor company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $177.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 business’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

In related news, General Counsel Zi Yao Lim sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 owned 23,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,067,130. This trade represents a 4.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Nelson Munpun Wong sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.53, for a total transaction of $1,695,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 126,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,143,639.57. This trade represents a 19.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 36,204 shares of company stock worth $2,003,450 in the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KLIC. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 11,972 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 48.4% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 779 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1.3% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 24,655 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.