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

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the five analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.40.

A number of research firms recently commented on KLIC. Needham & Company LLC raised Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson decreased 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 research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com raised Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, November 15th.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLIC traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $45.15. 93,691 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 423,576. The company has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of -36.71 and a beta of 1.37. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a 12 month low of $38.20 and a 12 month high of $56.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $48.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.73.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $181.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 19th were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This is a boost from Kulicke and Soffa Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 19th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries's payout ratio is presently -66.67%.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

In other news, CEO Fusen Ernie Chen sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.29, for a total value of $3,863,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,100,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,155,941.85. This trade represents a 6.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 11,391 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.52, for a total value of $564,082.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,838 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,031,897.76. The trade was a 35.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 221,121 shares of company stock worth $10,527,843 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KLIC. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 137.5% in 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 raised 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 worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 61.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 101.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company's stock.

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.