Capital Investment Counsel Inc Sells 1,300 Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc lessened its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,490 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,300 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel Inc owned 0.06% of Kulicke and Soffa Industries worth $1,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 137.5% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 715 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings 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. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 61.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 101.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on KLIC. TD Cowen upped their price objective on 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 decreased their price objective on 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.00.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Price Performance

Shares of KLIC opened at $43.06 on Friday. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.20 and a 1 year high of $53.71. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 358.83 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.62 and a 200-day moving average of $44.87.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 1.26% and a net margin of 0.48%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, November 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

In related news, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 11,391 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,031,897.76. This trade represents a 35.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Fusen Ernie Chen sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.29, for a total value of $3,863,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,100,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,155,941.85. This represents a 6.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 121,391 shares of company stock worth $5,870,582 over the last ninety days. 3.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.