William Blair Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. $KLIC

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management cut its stake in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 66,141 shares and leaving it with 632,017 shares valued at about $28.8 million.
• Kulicke and Soffa reported strong quarterly results, posting earnings of $0.79 per share versus $0.67 expected and revenue of $242.6 million, up 49.8% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but improving, with several rating upgrades and Needham raising its price target to $105; the consensus rating is still Moderate Buy.

William Blair Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 632,017 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 66,141 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 1.21% of Kulicke and Soffa Industries worth $28,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,513,023 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $160,053,000 after buying an additional 20,535 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 21.1% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,348,020 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $81,241,000 after buying an additional 409,116 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 718,632 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $24,865,000 after buying an additional 37,225 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 541.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 665,295 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $27,038,000 after purchasing an additional 561,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 607,136 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $27,661,000 after purchasing an additional 175,744 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.22% of the company's stock.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLIC opened at $104.40 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $80.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.40. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.21 and a fifty-two week high of $107.01. The company has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.38 and a beta of 1.66.

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

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 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 presently 78.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Weiss Ratings raised 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 raised their price objective on Kulicke and Soffa Industries from $70.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.25.

Insider Transactions at Kulicke and Soffa Industries

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

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Profile

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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