Royce & Associates LP Sells 181,644 Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. $KLIC

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP cut its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 181,644 shares and leaving it with 941,022 shares worth about $42.9 million.
• Kulicke and Soffa reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.79 versus the $0.67 estimate and revenue of $242.6 million, up 49.8% year over year.
• The stock has seen mixed but improving analyst sentiment: several firms raised ratings or price targets, and the consensus rating is now “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $59.25.

Royce & Associates LP reduced its position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC - Free Report) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 941,022 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 181,644 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 1.80% of Kulicke and Soffa Industries worth $42,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 48.4% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 779 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2,665.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 968 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. 98.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLIC opened at $104.40 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average is $81.54 and its 200 day moving average is $63.86. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.21 and a 1 year high of $107.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.38 and a beta of 1.66.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.12. Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 7.16%.The company had revenue of $242.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $228.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.52) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 49.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 1.000- EPS. On average, analysts expect that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th were issued a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Kulicke and Soffa Industries's dividend payout ratio is currently 78.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KLIC. Weiss Ratings upgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $70.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kulicke and Soffa Industries has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Jeffrey Richardson sold 9,364 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.19, for a total value of $675,987.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 17,694 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,277,329.86. This represents a 34.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Zi Yao Lim sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.98, for a total value of $154,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 21,214 shares in the company, valued at $2,184,617.72. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,864 shares of company stock valued at $2,830,457. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

About Kulicke and Soffa Industries

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.

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