Edgestream Partners L.P. Sells 70,055 Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)

Edgestream Partners L.P. trimmed its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 46.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 79,189 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 70,055 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned about 0.15% of Kulicke and Soffa Industries worth $3,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 19,735 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,384 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $560,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 137.5% during 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. Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 6,054 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 226.3% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 783 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

In related news, EVP Chan Pin Chong sold 9,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.07, for a total transaction of $448,261.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lester A. Wong sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 79,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,692,721.32. This represents a 42.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,730 shares of company stock worth $4,657,261 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Craig Hallum dropped their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.40.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ KLIC opened at $48.42 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.37 and a beta of 1.38. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.20 and a twelve month high of $56.71. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.37.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.01). The company 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. Research analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a $0.205 dividend. This is a positive change from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 19th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently -65.04%.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Company 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.