Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Receives $52.40 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $52.40.

A number of analysts have weighed in on KLIC shares. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kulicke and Soffa Industries news, CEO Fusen Ernie Chen sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.29, for a total transaction of $3,863,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,100,765 shares in the company, valued at $53,155,941.85. This represents a 6.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 11,391 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.52, for a total transaction of $564,082.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,838 shares in the company, valued at $1,031,897.76. This trade represents a 35.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 221,121 shares of company stock worth $10,527,843. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KLIC. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1.3% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 19,735 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $891,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 36,329 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,384 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 61.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 137.5% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 715 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLIC opened at $47.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.48 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $47.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.65. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a fifty-two week low of $38.20 and a fifty-two week high of $56.71.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.01). Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative net margin of 9.77% and a negative return on equity of 0.92%. The firm had revenue of $181.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 19th were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 19th. This is a boost from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -66.67%.

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.