Brokerages Set Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) PT at $52.40

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

KLIC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Craig Hallum decreased their price objective on 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. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com lowered Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Lester A. Wong sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.37, for a total transaction of $2,782,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 79,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,692,721.32. The trade was a 42.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Chan Pin Chong sold 9,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,773,870.12. This trade represents a 10.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 99,730 shares of company stock valued at $4,657,261. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 150,533 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,794,000 after buying an additional 40,990 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 127.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 14,480 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,469,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $66,319,000 after acquiring an additional 264,638 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 137.5% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 715 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 226.3% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 783 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Up 2.1 %

KLIC stock opened at $48.42 on Monday. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a 12-month low of $38.20 and a 12-month high of $56.71. The stock has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.37 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s 50-day moving average is $45.77 and its 200 day moving average is $45.37.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last issued its 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). Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 0.92% and a negative net margin of 9.77%. The company had revenue of $181.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This is an increase from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 19th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s payout ratio is currently -65.04%.

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

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.