Citigroup Inc. Cuts Holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)

Citigroup Inc. cut its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 8.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,683 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 6,941 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.14% of Kulicke and Soffa Industries worth $4,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 381.4% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 432.9% in the first quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,588 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the second quarter worth about $89,000. Finally, Strs Ohio grew its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 47.1% in the first quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. 98.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLIC opened at $52.08 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $55.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.95. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.95 and a 52-week high of $60.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.00 and a beta of 1.39.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 9th. The semiconductor company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $190.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.08 million. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 11.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 48.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 20th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s payout ratio is 45.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kulicke and Soffa Industries news, VP Stephen Ray Drake sold 10,000 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.46, for a total value of $574,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 24,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,340.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Kulicke and Soffa Industries news, VP Stephen Ray Drake sold 10,000 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.46, for a total transaction of $574,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,428,340.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Nelson Munpun Wong sold 5,000 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 180,076 shares in the company, valued at $10,804,560. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,474,600 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on KLIC. B. Riley lifted their price target on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, July 17th. StockNews.com began coverage on Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Craig Hallum downgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $60.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 21st.

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 two segments, Capital Equipment, and Aftermarket Products and Services (APS). The company manufactures and sells advanced displays; die-transfer, flip-chip, and TCB advanced packaging products; ball bonder, die-attach, electronics assembly, lithography, wafer-level bonder, and wedge bonder products; consumables, such as capillaries, dicing blades, and wedge bonds; and auto offline programming, KNet PLUS, and new product introduction/manufacturing execution system software products.