Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Stock Price Down 7.5% – Here’s What Happened

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU)’s stock price traded down 7.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $47.56 and last traded at $46.8820. Approximately 77,835 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 1,119,529 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on COHU shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price objective on Cohu and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Cohu in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Cohu from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cohu has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.86.

Cohu Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.69 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.16. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02). Cohu had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a negative return on equity of 3.50%. The firm had revenue of $125.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jeffrey D. Jones sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.84, for a total transaction of $608,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 343,792 shares in the company, valued at $16,103,217.28. This trade represents a 3.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Luis A. Muller sold 45,154 shares of Cohu stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.62, for a total transaction of $2,105,079.48. Following 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 89,668 shares of company stock worth $4,210,016. 3.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cohu

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of COHU. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Cohu by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,214 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in Cohu in the first quarter valued at about $276,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Cohu by 2,042.7% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 162,674 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,393,000 after buying an additional 155,082 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Cohu by 4.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 114,361 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after acquiring an additional 5,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Cohu by 478.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,175,282 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,612,000 after acquiring an additional 972,088 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.67% of the company’s stock.

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.