Hsbc Holdings PLC Makes New Investment in Cohu, Inc. $COHU

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 35,920 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,087,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Cohu by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 195,536 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,550,000 after acquiring an additional 42,593 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Cohu in the first quarter worth $705,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Cohu by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,361,164 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $101,484,000 after purchasing an additional 57,618 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its stake in Cohu by 349.3% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 302,838 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $7,047,000 after purchasing an additional 235,438 shares during the period. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA grew its stake in Cohu by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 646,133 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $19,785,000 after purchasing an additional 24,755 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 45,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total transaction of $2,105,079.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 927,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,245,597.78. This represents a 4.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director William Bendush sold 7,500 shares of Cohu stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.14, for a total value of $368,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,217,689.20. This trade represents a 23.23% decrease in their position. 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 89,668 shares of company stock worth $4,210,016. 3.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cohu Price Performance

Cohu stock opened at $42.47 on Wednesday. Cohu, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.80 and a 12 month high of $74.60. The company has a current ratio of 6.43, a quick ratio of 5.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.16. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.69 and a beta of 1.55.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02). Cohu had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a negative return on equity of 3.50%. The firm had revenue of $125.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $122.14 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Cohu’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on COHU shares. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Cohu in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Cohu from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Cohu from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cohu and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.86.

About Cohu

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed to support chip manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, and electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company’s product lineup includes automatic test handlers, wafer probers, test sockets, thermal subassembly systems and burn-in boards, all engineered to optimize throughput, accuracy and reliability in semiconductor production and final test.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Poway, California, Cohu has grown through both organic development and targeted acquisitions to become a recognized leader in test handling and interconnect technologies.