New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 6,972 Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,201 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 6,972 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries were worth $4,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 21,762 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 2,368 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 1st quarter valued at about $602,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 46.5% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,783,000 after purchasing an additional 10,110 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 150,077 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,407,000 after purchasing an additional 10,932 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 59,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kulicke and Soffa Industries news, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 8,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.97, for a total transaction of $429,515.87. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 24,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,187,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, TheStreet cut shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Performance

Shares of KLIC opened at $47.78 on Monday. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.20 and a 52 week high of $60.20. The firm has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.09 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.34.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The semiconductor company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.04. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 8.55%. The business had revenue of $171.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

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.