Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) EVP Sells $448,261.10 in Stock

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) EVP Chan Pin Chong sold 9,730 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.07, for a total transaction of $448,261.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,916 shares in the company, valued at $3,773,870.12. The trade was a 10.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ KLIC opened at $49.17 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $45.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.39. The firm has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.98 and a beta of 1.38. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.20 and a twelve month high of $56.71.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $181.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.03 million. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 0.92% and a negative net margin of 9.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 19th will be issued a $0.205 dividend. This is an increase from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 19th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s payout ratio is currently -65.04%.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 137.5% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 715 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 226.3% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 783 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the third quarter valued at $53,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 17,075.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,374 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries during the second quarter valued at $73,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KLIC shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on 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. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Craig Hallum lowered their price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kulicke and Soffa Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.40.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Company Profile

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.