Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $55.02, but opened at $52.33. Cohu shares last traded at $53.3450, with a volume of 81,772 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Cohu from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Cohu in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price objective on Cohu and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Cohu from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.29.

Cohu Stock Down 0.6%

The company has a current ratio of 6.43, a quick ratio of 5.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.02 and a beta of 1.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.73.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.02). Cohu had a negative return on equity of 3.50% and a negative net margin of 11.54%.The company had revenue of $125.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.14 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 45,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total transaction of $2,105,079.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 927,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,245,597.78. This represents a 4.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Christopher Bohrson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.88, for a total transaction of $63,880.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 171,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,968,323.76. The trade was a 0.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,668 shares of company stock worth $4,210,016. 3.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Cohu by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,214 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of Cohu during the first quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cohu by 2,042.7% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 162,674 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,393,000 after purchasing an additional 155,082 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cohu by 4.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 114,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after purchasing an additional 5,297 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Cohu by 478.4% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,175,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,612,000 after purchasing an additional 972,088 shares in the last quarter. 94.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed to support chip manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, and electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company’s product lineup includes automatic test handlers, wafer probers, test sockets, thermal subassembly systems and burn-in boards, all engineered to optimize throughput, accuracy and reliability in semiconductor production and final test.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Poway, California, Cohu has grown through both organic development and targeted acquisitions to become a recognized leader in test handling and interconnect technologies.