190,686 Shares in Cohu, Inc. $COHU Acquired by Meros Investment Management LP

Meros Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 190,686 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,093,602,000. Cohu comprises about 4.5% of Meros Investment Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Andrew M. Caggia sold 15,252 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.74, for a total transaction of $789,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 64,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,351,613.72. This trade represents a 19.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Nina Richardson sold 3,055 shares of Cohu stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total transaction of $157,454.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 39,093 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,853.22. This represents a 7.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,307 shares of company stock worth $1,630,573. Corporate insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on COHU shares. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Cohu in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Cohu from $54.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Cohu from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on shares of Cohu from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Cohu from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $68.75.

Cohu Stock Performance

COHU stock opened at $50.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of -60.98 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 5.74, a quick ratio of 4.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $56.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.57. Cohu, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.67 and a 1-year high of $74.60.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $149.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.20 million. Cohu had a negative return on equity of 1.96% and a negative net margin of 7.43%.The firm’s revenue was up 38.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current 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.