578,997 Shares in Cohu, Inc. $COHU Bought by Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY

Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY purchased a new position in shares of Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 578,997 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,794,000. Cohu comprises approximately 1.2% of Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY owned about 1.22% of Cohu at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cohu in the second quarter valued at about $545,932,000. SG Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Cohu during the fourth quarter worth $33,174,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Cohu by 478.4% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,175,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,612,000 after acquiring an additional 972,088 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Cohu in the first quarter valued at $23,887,000. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its holdings in Cohu by 125.5% in the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 955,344 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,253,000 after acquiring an additional 531,661 shares during the period. 94.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cohu Trading Down 5.6%

Cohu stock opened at $51.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $56.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.41. The company has a current ratio of 5.74, a quick ratio of 4.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of -61.81 and a beta of 1.59. Cohu, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.67 and a 52 week high of $74.60.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.12. Cohu had a negative net margin of 7.43% and a negative return on equity of 1.96%. The business had revenue of $149.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.02 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 38.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Andrew M. Caggia sold 15,252 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.74, for a total transaction of $789,138.48. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 64,778 shares in the company, valued at $3,351,613.72. This represents a 19.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Nina Richardson sold 3,055 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $157,454.70. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 39,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,853.22. This represents a 7.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 30,307 shares of company stock valued at $1,630,573 in the last 90 days. 3.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COHU. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Cohu in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Cohu in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Cohu in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Cohu from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cohu from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $68.75.

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed to support chip manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, and electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company’s product lineup includes automatic test handlers, wafer probers, test sockets, thermal subassembly systems and burn-in boards, all engineered to optimize throughput, accuracy and reliability in semiconductor production and final test.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Poway, California, Cohu has grown through both organic development and targeted acquisitions to become a recognized leader in test handling and interconnect technologies.