Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY Reduces Position in Cohu, Inc. $COHU

Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY decreased its stake in shares of Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) by 31.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 623,852 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 291,045 shares during the quarter. Cohu comprises 0.7% of Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY’s holdings in Cohu were worth $19,102,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Caxton Associates LLP grew its holdings in shares of Cohu by 183.4% during the first quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 50,565 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after buying an additional 32,721 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Cohu by 93.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 251,122 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,689,000 after acquiring an additional 121,015 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in Cohu during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in Cohu by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 24,993 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System purchased a new stake in Cohu during the 1st quarter valued at about $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on Cohu from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Cohu in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a report on Friday, July 17th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Cohu from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William Bendush sold 7,500 shares of Cohu stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.14, for a total transaction of $368,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,217,689.20. The trade was a 23.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 45,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total transaction of $2,105,079.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 927,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,245,597.78. This represents a 4.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 89,668 shares of company stock valued at $4,210,016 in the last three months. 3.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cohu Stock Performance

NASDAQ COHU opened at $50.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.60 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 5.31 and a current ratio of 6.43. Cohu, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.80 and a fifty-two week high of $74.60.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $125.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.14 million. Cohu had a negative return on equity of 3.50% and a negative net margin of 11.54%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.02) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

About Cohu

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.