D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $476,000 Stock Holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 9.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,551 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries were worth $476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KLIC. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 297.1% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 14,012 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $689,000 after acquiring an additional 10,483 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at $340,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 17,075.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,374 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,366 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 33,970 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,671,000 after buying an additional 3,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Donald L. Hagan LLC lifted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC now owns 6,525 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

In related news, CFO Lester A. Wong sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 79,636 shares in the company, valued at $3,692,721.32. The trade was a 42.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Chan Pin Chong sold 9,730 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,916 shares in the company, valued at $3,773,870.12. This trade represents a 10.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 99,730 shares of company stock worth $4,657,261 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on KLIC shares. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen lifted their price target 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 dropped 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Craig Hallum dropped their price target on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.40.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLIC opened at $50.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -40.94 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $46.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.41. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $38.20 and a 52-week high of $56.71.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last announced its 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). The company had revenue of $181.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.03 million. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 0.92% and a negative net margin of 9.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors 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 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 19th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s payout ratio is currently -65.04%.

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.