Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,450,000 shares, a growth of 9.9% from the January 15th total of 3,140,000 shares. Currently, 6.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 555,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

In other Kulicke and Soffa Industries news, Director Chin Hu Lim sold 30,000 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.11, for a total transaction of $1,443,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 59,701 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,872,215.11. The trade was a 33.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 11,391 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.52, for a total transaction of $564,082.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 20,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 121,391 shares of company stock valued at $5,870,582. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KLIC. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1.3% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 19,735 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $891,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,985 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 35.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 50,007 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,333,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on KLIC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of 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, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kulicke and Soffa Industries presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.00.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Price Performance

NASDAQ:KLIC traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $43.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 992,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 522,262. The company has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 358.83 and a beta of 1.36. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a one year low of $38.20 and a one year high of $53.71. The business's 50-day moving average is $45.62 and its 200-day moving average is $44.87.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 1.26% and a net margin of 0.48%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Company 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.