Meritage Portfolio Management Has $318,000 Holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,812 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries were worth $318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 418.5% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 69,211 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,404,000 after acquiring an additional 55,862 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the second quarter worth about $279,000. Creative Planning raised its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 3.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,384 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 56.5% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,741 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,216 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 3,897 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on KLIC. StockNews.com raised Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

In other news, EVP Chan Pin Chong sold 9,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.07, for a total transaction of $448,261.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,773,870.12. This represents a 10.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lester A. Wong sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.37, for a total transaction of $2,782,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 79,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,692,721.32. This represents a 42.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 221,121 shares of company stock valued at $10,527,843. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of KLIC stock opened at $42.59 on Friday. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.20 and a 1 year high of $53.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $47.11 and its 200-day moving average is $45.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.63 and a beta of 1.36.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative net margin of 9.77% and a negative return on equity of 0.92%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 19th were issued a $0.205 dividend. This is a positive change from Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 19th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently -66.67%.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, November 13th that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.