Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $30.00. The stock had previously closed at $24.92, but opened at $26.33. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Cohu shares last traded at $27.78, with a volume of 132,407 shares trading hands.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on COHU. StockNews.com cut Cohu from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Craig Hallum upgraded Cohu from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Cohu from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $36.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cohu news, Director Nina Richardson sold 4,999 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.14, for a total value of $120,675.86. Following the transaction, the director now owns 28,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at $683,475.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,399 shares of company stock valued at $130,204. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cohu

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COHU. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Cohu by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,823 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 3,297 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cohu by 46.4% during the third quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 521,047 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $13,391,000 after purchasing an additional 165,135 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Cohu by 286.1% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 107,817 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,771,000 after purchasing an additional 79,890 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cohu in the third quarter valued at approximately $528,000. Finally, Trust Point Inc. acquired a new stake in Cohu during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $552,000. 94.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cohu Price Performance

The company's 50-day simple moving average is $25.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.71. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of -45.47 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 5.09 and a current ratio of 6.95.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The semiconductor company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.02). Cohu had a negative net margin of 5.70% and a positive return on equity of 1.27%. The company had revenue of $95.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $95.75 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 36.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cohu, Inc. will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides semiconductor test equipment and services in China, the United States, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and internationally. The company supplies semiconductor test and inspection handlers, micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) test modules, test contactors, thermal sub-systems, and semiconductor automated test equipment for semiconductor manufacturers and test subcontractors.