Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $60.00 and last traded at $59.7040, with a volume of 343 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $59.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLIC has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research downgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. B. Riley restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 price target (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kulicke and Soffa Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Up 0.2%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -2,972.26 and a beta of 1.63.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 20th. The semiconductor company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.06. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 1.64% and a net margin of 0.03%.The firm had revenue of $177.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were paid a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s payout ratio is presently -4,100.00%.

Insider Activity at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

In other Kulicke and Soffa Industries news, General Counsel Zi Yao Lim sold 1,000 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $45,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 23,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,067,130. This trade represents a 4.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Nelson Munpun Wong sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.53, for a total transaction of $1,695,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 126,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,143,639.57. This trade represents a 19.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 36,004 shares of company stock worth $1,991,450 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 7,609.1% during the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 848 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2,665.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 968 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 933 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Kulicke & Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) is a global supplier of semiconductor and LED assembly equipment. The company specializes in the design, development and manufacture of advanced die bonding, wire bonding, flip-chip bumping and wafer-level packaging systems. Its solutions support a wide range of applications in consumer electronics, automotive, communications and other high-growth segments within the semiconductor and LED industries.

Key products include precision wire bonders for microelectronic packaging, die attach systems for chip placement, flip-chip bonders for advanced packaging architectures and LED packaging platforms that enable high-volume production of automotive and general-illumination LEDs.