Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 156.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,946 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries were worth $1,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLIC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 4.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,841,236 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $142,943,000 after acquiring an additional 128,026 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,469,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $66,319,000 after purchasing an additional 264,638 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 37.2% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,075,790 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $52,918,000 after purchasing an additional 291,787 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 12.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 671,675 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $33,040,000 after buying an additional 73,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 8.1% during the first quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 648,357 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,619,000 after buying an additional 48,590 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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 research report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.33.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Up 2.5 %

KLIC stock opened at $47.09 on Wednesday. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.20 and a 52 week high of $56.71. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.28 and a beta of 1.38.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.05. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative net margin of 7.94% and a positive return on equity of 0.61%. The business had revenue of $181.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $179.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post -0.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 19th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 19th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently -76.92%.

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.