Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Shares Acquired by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC boosted its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 85.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,604 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,429 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.18% of Kulicke and Soffa Industries worth $4,361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLIC. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 264,638 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 20.3% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,111,312 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $50,154,000 after buying an additional 187,673 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 37.2% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,075,790 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $52,918,000 after buying an additional 291,787 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 671,675 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $33,040,000 after acquiring an additional 73,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 452,945 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $20,441,000 after acquiring an additional 9,943 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Performance

Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock opened at $46.95 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $47.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.66. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.20 and a 1 year high of $56.71. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.17 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 19th will be paid a $0.205 dividend. This is a boost from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 19th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s payout ratio is currently -66.67%.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 11,391 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.52, for a total transaction of $564,082.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,031,897.76. This represents a 35.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 shares were sold at an average price of $48.29, for a total value of $3,863,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,100,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,155,941.85. This trade represents a 6.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 221,121 shares of company stock worth $10,527,843. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.