Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) Holdings Boosted by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:KLIC) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 708,441 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,010 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kulicke and Soffa Industries were worth $33,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,502,640 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $70,113,000 after buying an additional 33,124 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,165,428 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $54,379,000 after buying an additional 54,116 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 530,827 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $24,768,000 after buying an additional 74,920 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 398,225 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $17,972,000 after buying an additional 38,655 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 262,799 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,262,000 after buying an additional 4,613 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KLIC. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kulicke and Soffa Industries from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.00.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Price Performance

Kulicke and Soffa Industries stock opened at $36.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 303.08 and a beta of 1.38. Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.04 and a fifty-two week high of $53.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $41.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.31.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries (NASDAQ:KLIC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). Kulicke and Soffa Industries had a negative return on equity of 1.26% and a net margin of 0.48%. As a group, 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.205 per share. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Kulicke and Soffa Industries’s dividend payout ratio is 683.33%.

Kulicke and Soffa Industries Company 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.