Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 491,698 Shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. $KLIC

Key Points

• Victory Capital sold 491,698 shares of Kulicke & Soffa, cutting its stake by 17.9% to 2,254,985 shares (about 4.32% of the company) worth roughly $91.64 million at quarter-end.
• KLIC beat last quarter's estimates with $0.44 EPS vs. $0.33 expected and $199.6M revenue (up 20.2% year-over-year), and issued Q2 guidance of $0.600–0.740 EPS.
• Analysts show a mixed but positive tilt—MarketBeat lists a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a $50.50 target while several firms recently upgraded to Buy/Strong-Buy—meanwhile insiders have sold ~111,609 shares (~$7.03M) in the past three months.

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC - Free Report) by 17.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,254,985 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 491,698 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 4.32% of Kulicke and Soffa Industries worth $91,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KLIC. Creative Planning lifted its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 63.3% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 56,706 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,962,000 after purchasing an additional 21,983 shares during the last quarter. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong bought a new position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries during the third quarter valued at about $1,250,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 20.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,313,378 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $80,043,000 after buying an additional 392,691 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,346,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 203,406 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $8,266,000 after acquiring an additional 23,482 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLIC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $39.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One investment 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 MarketBeat, Kulicke and Soffa Industries presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.50.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:KLIC opened at $67.75 on Thursday. The business's 50 day moving average is $60.89 and its 200 day moving average is $47.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.99 and a beta of 1.58. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.63 and a 52-week high of $77.50.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $199.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. Kulicke and Soffa Industries has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.600-0.740 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

In other news, SVP Robert Nestor Chylak sold 7,098 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 22,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,684,487.36. This trade represents a 23.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Nelson Munpun Wong sold 39,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.98, for a total transaction of $2,427,004.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 86,369 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,266,781.62. This trade represents a 31.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 111,609 shares of company stock worth $7,031,036. 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding KLIC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.