Insider Selling: Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Director Sells 30,000 Shares of Stock

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Director Chin Hu Lim sold 30,000 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.11, for a total transaction of $1,443,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 59,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,872,215.11. The trade was a 33.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ:KLIC traded down $1.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $48.84. The company had a trading volume of 588,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 502,968. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.20 and a 52 week high of $56.71. The firm has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.71 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $46.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.46.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.01). Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 0.92% and a negative net margin of 9.77%. The company had revenue of $181.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.03 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 19th. This is an increase from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s payout ratio is -65.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 150,533 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,794,000 after acquiring an additional 40,990 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 88,712 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,977,000 after buying an additional 19,279 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 127.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 25,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after buying an additional 14,480 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,469,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $66,319,000 after buying an additional 264,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 137.5% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 715 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KLIC shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kulicke and Soffa Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.40.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices. It operates through four segments: Ball Bonding Equipment, Wedge Bonding Equipment, Advanced Solutions, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company offers ball bonding equipment, wafer level bonding equipment, wedge bonding equipment; and advanced display, die-attach, and thermocompression systems and solutions, as well as tools, spares and services for equipment.