Rhumbline Advisers Increases Stock Holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 163,491 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,355 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.30% of Kulicke and Soffa Industries worth $7,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1.3% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 19,735 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $891,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 36,329 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 387 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management boosted 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 purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Fusen Ernie Chen sold 80,000 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.29, for a total transaction of $3,863,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,100,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,155,941.85. The trade was a 6.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Chin Hu Lim sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.11, for a total value of $1,443,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 59,701 shares in the company, valued at $2,872,215.11. This trade represents a 33.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 121,391 shares of company stock worth $5,870,582. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kulicke and Soffa Industries presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Down 1.8 %

Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock opened at $39.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 331.42 and a beta of 1.36. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.20 and a twelve month high of $53.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.92.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.