20,700 Shares in Cohu, Inc. $COHU Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 20,700 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $634,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Cohu in the third quarter worth about $243,960,000. SG Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cohu during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,174,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Cohu by 478.4% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,175,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,612,000 after acquiring an additional 972,088 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in Cohu during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,859,000. Finally, Atom Investors LP purchased a new position in Cohu in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,318,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cohu

In other news, Director Steven J. Bilodeau sold 10,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.85, for a total transaction of $460,026.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 52,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,344,399.20. This represents a 16.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher Bohrson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.88, for a total transaction of $63,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 171,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,968,323.76. This trade represents a 0.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 90,668 shares of company stock valued at $4,248,016 over the last three months. 3.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cohu Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COHU opened at $50.97 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.31, a current ratio of 6.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $55.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.15. Cohu, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.80 and a 52-week high of $74.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.83 and a beta of 1.55.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $125.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.14 million. Cohu had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a negative return on equity of 3.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.02) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on COHU shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Cohu from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price target on shares of Cohu and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Cohu in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cohu in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.33.

Cohu Company Profile

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed to support chip manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, and electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company’s product lineup includes automatic test handlers, wafer probers, test sockets, thermal subassembly systems and burn-in boards, all engineered to optimize throughput, accuracy and reliability in semiconductor production and final test.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Poway, California, Cohu has grown through both organic development and targeted acquisitions to become a recognized leader in test handling and interconnect technologies.