State Street Corp Has $95.26 Million Position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)

State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,101,295 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,985 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned approximately 3.85% of Kulicke and Soffa Industries worth $95,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLIC. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 32.4% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 48,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,181,000 after purchasing an additional 11,836 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 59.7% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 140,269 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,330,000 after buying an additional 52,419 shares in the last quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the third quarter valued at about $4,062,000. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the third quarter valued at about $273,000. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 10.8% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 398,225 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $17,972,000 after acquiring an additional 38,655 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Price Performance

NASDAQ KLIC opened at $50.11 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $46.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a PE ratio of -40.74 and a beta of 1.38. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.20 and a fifty-two week high of $56.71.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last released 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). The business had revenue of $181.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.03 million. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative net margin of 9.77% and a negative return on equity of 0.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 19th will be given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. This is a boost from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 19th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently -66.67%.

Insider Activity at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

In other news, EVP Chan Pin Chong sold 9,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.07, for a total value of $448,261.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,773,870.12. This represents a 10.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Fusen Ernie Chen sold 80,000 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.29, for a total transaction of $3,863,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,100,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,155,941.85. This represents a 6.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 221,121 shares of company stock valued at $10,527,843 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLIC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted 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 report on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com cut Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kulicke and Soffa Industries presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.40.

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.