Cohu, Inc. $COHU Stake Boosted by Meros Investment Management LP

Meros Investment Management LP raised its stake in Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 355,744 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 26,756 shares during the quarter. Cohu accounts for 3.3% of Meros Investment Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Meros Investment Management LP’s holdings in Cohu were worth $8,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Cohu by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 16,231 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Cohu by 4.6% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,847 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cohu by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Cohu by 45.4% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,564 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in Cohu by 0.9% in the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 65,233 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 45,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total transaction of $2,105,079.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 927,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,245,597.78. The trade was a 4.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director James A. Donahue sold 10,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.77, for a total value of $479,719.89. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $167,343.06. The trade was a 74.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 89,668 shares of company stock valued at $4,184,136 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COHU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price target on Cohu and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Cohu from $35.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Cohu from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.00.

Cohu Stock Up 4.4%

Cohu stock opened at $64.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of -53.82 and a beta of 1.62. Cohu, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.71 and a 12 month high of $65.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 6.43 and a quick ratio of 5.31.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $125.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.14 million. Cohu had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a negative return on equity of 3.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.02) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Cohu

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.