Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Shares Sold by GSA Capital Partners LLP

GSA Capital Partners LLP decreased its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC – Get Rating) by 66.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,099 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 42,932 shares during the quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries were worth $1,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 737,434 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,644,000 after purchasing an additional 6,815 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2.8% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 645,337 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,609,000 after acquiring an additional 17,336 shares during the period. Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 28.9% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 76,640 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,227,000 after acquiring an additional 17,204 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 120,684 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,307,000 after acquiring an additional 33,639 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,531 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.02% of the company’s stock.

In related news, EVP Chan Pin Chong sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $120,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KLIC shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 14th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 4th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $57.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 10th. Finally, B. Riley downgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $59.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $76.40.

KLIC traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $47.72. 11,039 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 895,326. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.12. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 1.30. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.01 and a 52-week high of $75.29.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 4th. The semiconductor company reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $384.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $380.25 million. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a net margin of 28.33% and a return on equity of 46.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 7.22 EPS for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 3rd that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 13.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 24th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 23rd. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.65%.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Company Profile (Get Rating)

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells capital equipment and tools used to assemble semiconductor devices. It operates through two segments, Capital Equipment, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company manufactures and sells advanced displays; die-transfer, flip-chip, and TCB advanced packaging products; ball bonder, die-attach, electronics assembly, lithography, wafer-level bonder, and wedge bonder products; consumables, such as capillaries, dicing blades, and wedge bonds; and auto offline programming, KNet PLUS, and new product introduction/manufacturing execution system software products.

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