KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC lowered its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,981 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 162 shares during the period. KLA makes up 1.1% of Inspire Investing LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $9,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after buying an additional 3,408,617 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 76,452.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $234,168,000 after buying an additional 301,987 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after buying an additional 286,015 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 6,188.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $185,397,000 after buying an additional 235,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 10,766.7% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $176,720,000 after buying an additional 226,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $806.35.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $771.91 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $661.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $723.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.25 billion, a PE ratio of 35.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $581.70 and a twelve month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. KLA’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of process control, process-enabling, and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; and PCB and Component Inspection.