Meritage Portfolio Management Acquires 452 Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. $KLIC

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 6.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,983 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries were worth $242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 28,663 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 99.7% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,214 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 789.4% during the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 925 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 821 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,080 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 280.9% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,234 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

In related news, SVP Nelson Munpun Wong sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.07, for a total value of $1,112,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 147,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,469,048.31. This trade represents a 16.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Price Performance

Shares of KLIC opened at $40.04 on Tuesday. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.63 and a 1 year high of $52.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.06. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 500.50 and a beta of 1.57.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.01. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a net margin of 0.90% and a negative return on equity of 1.06%. The business had revenue of $148.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.48 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 18th were issued a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 18th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1,025.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLIC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.00.

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.