Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Sunday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $57.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research downgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective (up from $35.00) on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a report on Friday, November 21st. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Down 3.3%

Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock opened at $57.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -2,876.06 and a beta of 1.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.48 and a 200-day moving average of $41.68. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a 52 week low of $26.63 and a 52 week high of $60.00.

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

Insider Activity at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

In related news, SVP Nelson Munpun Wong sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 126,369 shares in the company, valued at $7,143,639.57. The trade was a 19.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Zi Yao Lim sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $45,000.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 23,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,067,130. The trade was a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 36,004 shares of company stock worth $1,991,450. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 10.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 64,220 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,118,000 after buying an additional 5,836 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 168.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 49,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,631,000 after acquiring an additional 31,048 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,080 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 155,842 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,140,000 after acquiring an additional 11,522 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 55.7% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 66,898 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 23,923 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.