Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on KLIC. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Friday, November 21st. B. Riley Financial restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.50.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock opened at $70.85 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.93. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.55 and a beta of 1.67. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a 12-month low of $26.63 and a 12-month high of $77.50.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $199.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.03 million. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 1.13% and a negative net margin of 9.40%.The business’s revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.600-0.740 EPS. Analysts predict that Kulicke and Soffa Industries will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 18th were issued a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 18th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s payout ratio is presently -67.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 7,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.28, for a total transaction of $520,141.44. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 22,987 shares in the company, valued at $1,684,487.36. This trade represents a 23.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Zi Yao Lim sold 1,000 shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.54, for a total transaction of $71,540.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 22,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,624,959.56. This represents a 4.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 103,245 shares of company stock worth $6,400,049. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KLIC. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,231 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,556 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,926 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,929 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Company Profile

Kulicke & Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) is a global supplier of semiconductor and LED assembly equipment. The company specializes in the design, development and manufacture of advanced die bonding, wire bonding, flip-chip bumping and wafer-level packaging systems. Its solutions support a wide range of applications in consumer electronics, automotive, communications and other high-growth segments within the semiconductor and LED industries.

Key products include precision wire bonders for microelectronic packaging, die attach systems for chip placement, flip-chip bonders for advanced packaging architectures and LED packaging platforms that enable high-volume production of automotive and general-illumination LEDs.