Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $30.00. The stock had previously closed at $24.92, but opened at $26.33. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Cohu shares last traded at $27.78, with a volume of 132,407 shares changing hands.

COHU has been the topic of several other reports. Craig Hallum raised Cohu from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Cohu from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup cut Cohu from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Nina Richardson sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.14, for a total value of $120,675.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 28,313 shares in the company, valued at $683,475.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,399 shares of company stock worth $130,204. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Cohu by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,823 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 3,297 shares in the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cohu by 46.4% in the third quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 521,047 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,391,000 after acquiring an additional 165,135 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Cohu by 286.1% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 107,817 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,771,000 after acquiring an additional 79,890 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cohu in the third quarter worth $528,000. Finally, Trust Point Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cohu in the third quarter worth $552,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Cohu Stock Up 9.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 5.09, a current ratio of 6.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.84 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.18 and a 200 day moving average of $28.66.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The semiconductor company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by ($0.02). Cohu had a negative net margin of 5.70% and a positive return on equity of 1.27%. The company had revenue of $95.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 36.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cohu, Inc. will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides semiconductor test equipment and services in China, the United States, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and internationally. The company supplies semiconductor test and inspection handlers, micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) test modules, test contactors, thermal sub-systems, and semiconductor automated test equipment for semiconductor manufacturers and test subcontractors.