Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Decreases Holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 7.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 42,805 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,238 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries were worth $1,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning lifted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 127.2% in 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 Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 22.0% in 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. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 226.3% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 783 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 156.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 35,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,623,000 after buying an additional 21,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 671,675 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $33,040,000 after buying an additional 73,243 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLIC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC raised Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Craig Hallum decreased their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kulicke and Soffa Industries currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.40.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ:KLIC opened at $47.41 on Friday. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.20 and a 12-month high of $56.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of -38.54 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.41.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $181.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 19th. This is a positive change from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -65.04%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Lester A. Wong sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.37, for a total value of $2,782,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 79,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,692,721.32. This trade represents a 42.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chan Pin Chong sold 9,730 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.07, for a total transaction of $448,261.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,773,870.12. This trade represents a 10.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 99,730 shares of company stock worth $4,657,261. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Profile

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.