Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases 72,730 Shares of Cohu, Inc. $COHU

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 72,730 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,956,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of COHU. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Cohu during the second quarter worth $17,744,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Cohu during the 2nd quarter worth $7,802,000. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY purchased a new position in Cohu in the second quarter valued at about $42,794,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in Cohu in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,839,000. Finally, Nicholas Investment Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Cohu during the 2nd quarter worth $8,013,000. Institutional investors own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cohu

In other news, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 21,662 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total value of $1,581,326.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 822,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,073,671. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Christopher Bohrson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.31, for a total transaction of $55,310.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 157,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,722,497.62. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 116,692 shares of company stock worth $7,374,716 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on COHU shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Cohu in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a report on Thursday, October 15th. B. Riley Financial reduced their target price on shares of Cohu from $75.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $83.00 price target on Cohu in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cohu from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cohu has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.50.

Cohu Stock Performance

Shares of COHU stock opened at $45.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of -86.54 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a current ratio of 5.16, a quick ratio of 4.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Cohu, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.10 and a 12 month high of $75.72. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.61.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.08. Cohu had a negative net margin of 3.97% and a positive return on equity of 1.47%. The business had revenue of $172.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc. designs and manufactures equipment and components used to test, inspect, and handle semiconductors. Its products include semiconductor test handlers, inspection systems, test contactors, and thermal subsystems that support testing at various stages of chip production. The company serves semiconductor manufacturers and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers around the world. Its equipment is used across a range of semiconductor applications, including devices for automotive, industrial, communications, and consumer markets.