Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $55.29, but opened at $51.24. Cohu shares last traded at $50.6050, with a volume of 62,045 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on COHU. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on shares of Cohu from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Cohu from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research downgraded Cohu from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of Cohu in a research note on Friday, July 31st. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.75.

Cohu Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.74 and a quick ratio of 4.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.53 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.68.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.12. Cohu had a negative net margin of 7.43% and a negative return on equity of 1.96%. The company had revenue of $149.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.02 EPS. Cohu’s quarterly revenue was up 38.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cohu

In other Cohu news, insider Christopher Bohrson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.31, for a total transaction of $55,310.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 157,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,722,497.62. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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, Director Nina Richardson sold 3,055 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $157,454.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 39,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,853.22. This trade represents a 7.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,999 shares of company stock valued at $8,321,309. Company insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cohu

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in COHU. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cohu during the 2nd quarter valued at about $545,932,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Cohu in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $77,814,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its position in Cohu by 125.5% during the first quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 955,344 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,253,000 after purchasing an additional 531,661 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Cohu during the first quarter worth approximately $23,887,000. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA boosted its position in Cohu by 4.0% during the first quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 646,133 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $19,785,000 after purchasing an additional 24,755 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Cohu Company Profile

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection equipment and related services. The company supplies solutions used by semiconductor manufacturers and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers to evaluate devices during production, helping improve manufacturing quality, reliability and efficiency.

Cohu’s product portfolio includes semiconductor test handlers, contactors and other interface products, inspection and metrology systems, thermal-management equipment, and software for test-data analysis and factory automation.