Ethic Inc. Increases Stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)

Ethic Inc. grew its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 34.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,862 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 3,007 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries were worth $553,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,061 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 397.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,041 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on KLIC. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $53.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $50.00 to $36.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLIC opened at $34.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 284.50 and a beta of 1.53. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.63 and a 12 month high of $53.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.01.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.52) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.71). The firm had revenue of $161.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $165.10 million. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 1.26% and a net margin of 0.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 227.78%.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

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.