Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Craig Hallum decreased their target price on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.33.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of KLIC opened at $47.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.87 and a 200 day moving average of $45.35. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a 12 month low of $38.20 and a 12 month high of $56.71. The company has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.24 and a beta of 1.38.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 36.6% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 39,005 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,760,000 after acquiring an additional 10,450 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 308.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,369 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 10,097 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 9.3% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 10,551 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 37.4% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 150,533 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,794,000 after acquiring an additional 40,990 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the third quarter worth $608,000. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

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.