Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) Stock Breaks Below 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ:COHU) passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $47.22 and traded as low as $43.15. Cohu shares last traded at $43.98, with a volume of 1,515,553 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COHU shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Cohu in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Cohu from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on Cohu from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cohu in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of Cohu in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.38.

Cohu Trading Up 10.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 4.24 and a current ratio of 5.16. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -74.02 and a beta of 1.60.

Cohu (NASDAQ:COHU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.08. Cohu had a positive return on equity of 1.47% and a negative net margin of 3.97%. The company had revenue of $172.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.06) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Cohu, Inc. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cohu

In related news, CEO Luis Muller sold 21,662 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.00, for a total transaction of $1,581,326.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 822,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,073,671. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Christopher Bohrson sold 1,000 shares of Cohu stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.31, for a total value of $55,310.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 157,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,722,497.62. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 116,692 shares of company stock worth $7,374,716. Company insiders own 3.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cohu

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cohu by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Cohu by 147.9% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 528 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cohu by 17.7% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,510 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the period. Choreo LLC increased its position in shares of Cohu by 12.0% in the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,187 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Cohu by 109.8% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 879 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. 94.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cohu Company Profile

Cohu, Inc is a global provider of semiconductor test and inspection equipment and related services. The company supplies solutions used by semiconductor manufacturers and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers to evaluate devices during production, helping improve manufacturing quality, reliability and efficiency.

Cohu’s product portfolio includes semiconductor test handlers, contactors and other interface products, inspection and metrology systems, thermal-management equipment, and software for test-data analysis and factory automation.