Ameriprise Financial Inc. Increases Stock Position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. $KLIC

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 14.9% in Q1, owning over 1.14 million shares valued at approximately $37.81 million.
• Other institutional investors also boosted their holdings, with over 98% of the company's stock now owned by these investors.
• Kulicke and Soffa Industries announced a quarterly dividend of $0.205 per share, with an annual yield of 2.2%, reflecting a high payout ratio of 1,025%.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC - Free Report) by 14.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,146,518 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 148,793 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 2.17% of Kulicke and Soffa Industries worth $37,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KLIC. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 266,466 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $8,788,000 after acquiring an additional 3,667 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1,770.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 19,095 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $579,000 after purchasing an additional 18,074 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 99.7% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,214 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 166,647 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $5,496,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 144,320 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $6,734,000 after purchasing an additional 21,628 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.33.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Trading Down 0.8%

KLIC traded down $0.27 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.25. 159,572 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 587,271. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a one year low of $26.63 and a one year high of $52.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 453.50 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.59.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.01. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a net margin of 0.90% and a negative return on equity of 1.06%. The company had revenue of $148.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.205 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 18th. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries's dividend payout ratio is presently 1,025.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kulicke and Soffa Industries news, SVP Nelson Munpun Wong sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.07, for a total transaction of $1,112,100.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 147,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,469,048.31. This represents a 16.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

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.