Insider Selling: Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) CEO Sells 45,154 Shares of Stock

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) CEO Luis Muller sold 45,154 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 927,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,245,597.78. This represents a 4.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Cohu Stock Up 7.3%

Shares of Cohu stock traded up $3.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $49.93. 2,631,570 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,335,655. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.34. Cohu, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.95 and a fifty-two week high of $52.43. The company has a current ratio of 6.43, a quick ratio of 5.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.96 and a beta of 1.61.

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). Cohu had a negative return on equity of 3.50% and a negative net margin of 11.54%.The business had revenue of $125.12 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $122.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.02) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on COHU shares. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Cohu in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Cohu from $33.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cohu and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Cohu from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cohu has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cohu

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in Cohu in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Cohu in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cohu by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Cohu in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cohu by 45.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,564 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. 94.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.