Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Sells 57,961 Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. reduced its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC - Free Report) by 63.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,784 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 57,961 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.06% of Kulicke and Soffa Industries worth $1,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLIC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,278,512 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $152,975,000 after buying an additional 50,430 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,762,112 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $82,220,000 after buying an additional 717,832 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,502,640 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $70,113,000 after buying an additional 33,124 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,165,428 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $54,379,000 after buying an additional 54,116 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 734,140 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $34,255,000 after buying an additional 77,479 shares during the period. 98.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports 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. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $50.00 to $36.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Price Performance

KLIC traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $33.82. 418,487 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 561,329. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $26.63 and a one year high of $53.71. The company has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 281.83 and a beta of 1.53. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $32.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.85.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) last released 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). Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a net margin of 0.48% and a negative return on equity of 1.26%. The firm had revenue of $161.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $165.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.95) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 227.78%.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Company 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.