Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.00.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on KLIC shares. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Insider Activity at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

In other news, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 11,391 shares of the firm'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 in the company, valued at $1,031,897.76. This trade represents a 35.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Nelson Munpun Wong sold 30,000 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.56, for a total value of $1,426,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 177,533 shares in the company, valued at $8,443,469.48. This trade represents a 14.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 221,121 shares of company stock valued at $10,527,843 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLIC. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 226.3% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 783 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries during the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 397.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 918 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.19. 486,635 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 516,564. The stock has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 343.25 and a beta of 1.36. The firm's fifty day moving average is $46.69 and its 200-day moving average is $45.03. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a 52 week low of $38.20 and a 52 week high of $53.71.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a net margin of 0.48% and a negative return on equity of 1.26%. On average, analysts forecast that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 19th were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 19th. This is a positive change from Kulicke and Soffa Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Kulicke and Soffa Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 683.33%.

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.