The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Invests $77.81 Million in Cohu, Inc. $COHU

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired 1.05 million Cohu shares worth approximately $77.8 million, giving it a 2.22% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 94.67% of the semiconductor test-equipment company.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: Cohu has a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $68.75, with recent targets ranging from $65 to $80.
• Cohu exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.26 in adjusted EPS versus $0.14 expected and $149 million in revenue, up 38.3% year over year. The stock opened at $50.61, compared with a 52-week range of $18.67 to $74.60.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,052,816 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $77,814,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 2.22% of Cohu at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Cohu during the second quarter worth approximately $545,932,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cohu by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,361,164 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $101,484,000 after buying an additional 57,618 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of Cohu by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,918,424 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $44,642,000 after buying an additional 7,927 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Cohu by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,819,530 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $42,340,000 after acquiring an additional 5,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Cohu in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,174,000. 94.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cohu news, SVP Christopher Bohrson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.82, for a total value of $558,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 159,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,914,565.64. This trade represents a 5.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Nina Richardson sold 3,055 shares of Cohu stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $157,454.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 39,093 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,014,853.22. The trade was a 7.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 30,307 shares of company stock worth $1,630,573 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.05% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COHU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Cohu from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen upped their price target on Cohu from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Craig Hallum reissued a "buy" rating and set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Cohu in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Cohu from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $68.75.

Cohu Stock Performance

NASDAQ COHU opened at $50.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 5.74 and a quick ratio of 4.72. The company has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -60.98 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $56.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.57. Cohu, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.67 and a 1-year high of $74.60.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $149.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.20 million. Cohu had a negative net margin of 7.43% and a negative return on equity of 1.96%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 38.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.02 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Cohu Company Profile

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed to support chip manufacturers, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) providers, and electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The company's product lineup includes automatic test handlers, wafer probers, test sockets, thermal subassembly systems and burn-in boards, all engineered to optimize throughput, accuracy and reliability in semiconductor production and final test.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Poway, California, Cohu has grown through both organic development and targeted acquisitions to become a recognized leader in test handling and interconnect technologies.

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