Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Stake Cut by GSA Capital Partners LLP

GSA Capital Partners LLP trimmed its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC - Free Report) by 73.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,869 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 13,558 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP's holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 37.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,075,790 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $52,918,000 after acquiring an additional 291,787 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $66,319,000 after acquiring an additional 264,638 shares in the last quarter. DDD Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,163,000. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 57.5% in the 2nd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 443,002 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $21,791,000 after acquiring an additional 161,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust grew its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 61.5% in the 2nd quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 355,675 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $17,496,000 after acquiring an additional 135,444 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KLIC. StockNews.com lowered Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Craig Hallum reduced their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on 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. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.40.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Price Performance

Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock traded up $0.93 during trading on Monday, hitting $50.10. The stock had a trading volume of 282,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 502,001. The firm has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -40.83 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $45.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.36. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.20 and a fifty-two week high of $56.71.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $181.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.03 million. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative net margin of 9.77% and a negative return on equity of 0.92%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.205 dividend. This is a positive change from Kulicke and Soffa Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 19th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries's dividend payout ratio is -66.67%.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Nelson Munpun Wong sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.56, for a total transaction of $1,426,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 177,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,443,469.48. This represents a 14.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Chan Pin Chong sold 9,730 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.07, for a total value 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 represents a 10.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,730 shares of company stock worth $4,657,261 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries 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.