Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Stock Price Up 3.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) rose 3.2% on Friday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $45.00 to $50.00. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. Kulicke and Soffa Industries traded as high as $47.71 and last traded at $47.06. Approximately 130,431 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 495,098 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.61.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on KLIC. Craig Hallum reduced their price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. 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 research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KLIC. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 78.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 25,585 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 11,230 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 287,814 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,480,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries during the first quarter worth about $29,000. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 7.6% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,212 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 4.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,841,236 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $142,943,000 after purchasing an additional 128,026 shares in the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $44.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.08 and a beta of 1.38.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This is a positive change from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently -65.04%.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.