Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 19.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,874 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries were worth $741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KLIC. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 20.3% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,111,312 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $50,154,000 after buying an additional 187,673 shares during the period. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,062,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 105.6% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 146,079 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,593,000 after purchasing an additional 75,043 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 530,827 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $24,768,000 after purchasing an additional 74,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 140,269 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,330,000 after purchasing an additional 52,419 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Fusen Ernie Chen sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was 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 $53,155,941.85. This trade represents a 6.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Chin Hu Lim sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 59,701 shares in the company, valued at $2,872,215.11. This trade represents a 33.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 121,391 shares of company stock valued at $5,870,582. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Price Performance

Shares of KLIC stock opened at $38.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 318.92 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $44.42 and a 200 day moving average of $44.81. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.37 and a 1 year high of $53.71.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries announced that its board has approved a share 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 purchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a 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. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kulicke and Soffa Industries currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries 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.