Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) CEO Luis Muller Sells 45,154 Shares of Stock

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) CEO Luis Muller sold 45,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total value of $2,105,079.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 927,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,245,597.78. This represents a 4.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Cohu Trading Up 7.3%

NASDAQ COHU opened at $49.93 on Wednesday. Cohu, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.95 and a 12 month high of $52.43. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.96 and a beta of 1.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $39.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.34. The company has a current ratio of 6.43, a quick ratio of 5.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last released 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). Cohu had a negative return on equity of 3.50% and a negative net margin of 11.54%.The company had revenue of $125.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.02) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Cohu by 31.4% in the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 192,846 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,921,000 after acquiring an additional 46,113 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Cohu by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 195,536 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,550,000 after acquiring an additional 42,593 shares during the period. Dean Capital Management lifted its holdings in Cohu by 41.5% in the third quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 127,324 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,588,000 after acquiring an additional 37,345 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cohu by 20.9% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 248,146 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,045,000 after acquiring an additional 42,819 shares during the period. Finally, First National Bank of Omaha bought a new position in Cohu in the third quarter valued at about $484,000. Institutional investors own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on COHU shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Monday, April 20th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price objective on Cohu and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Cohu from $35.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cohu currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

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.