Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 price target (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Zacks Research cut Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.50.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Up 6.8%

Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock opened at $70.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of -58.61 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $52.31 and a 200 day moving average of $43.36. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a 12 month low of $26.63 and a 12 month high of $70.96.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $199.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.03 million. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 1.13% and a negative net margin of 9.40%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.600-0.740 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were paid a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 18th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently -67.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Zi Yao Lim sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $45,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 23,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,067,130. This represents a 4.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Nelson Munpun Wong sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.53, for a total transaction of $1,695,900.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 126,369 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,204 shares of company stock valued at $2,003,450. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 541.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 665,295 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,038,000 after acquiring an additional 561,571 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $17,532,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,348,020 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $81,241,000 after acquiring an additional 409,116 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 20.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,313,378 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $80,043,000 after buying an additional 392,691 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 549.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 321,313 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $11,117,000 after acquiring an additional 271,868 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

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.