Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Short Interest Up 9.9% in January

Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,450,000 shares, a growth of 9.9% from the January 15th total of 3,140,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 555,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.2 days. Approximately 6.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Fusen Ernie Chen sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,100,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,155,941.85. This represents a 6.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 11,391 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.52, for a total transaction of $564,082.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,838 shares in the company, valued at $1,031,897.76. The trade was a 35.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 221,121 shares of company stock valued at $10,527,843 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kulicke and Soffa Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KLIC. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,762,112 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $82,220,000 after purchasing an additional 717,832 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,469,516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $66,319,000 after acquiring an additional 264,638 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,111,312 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $50,154,000 after acquiring an additional 187,673 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 354.3% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 212,119 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,897,000 after acquiring an additional 165,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 4th quarter worth $6,875,000. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on KLIC. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.00.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock traded down $0.24 on Friday, hitting $41.07. 253,719 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 494,395. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.90. The company has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 342.25 and a beta of 1.36. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a 12-month low of $38.20 and a 12-month high of $53.71.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 0.48% and a negative return on equity of 1.26%. Analysts predict that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

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