Milestone Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 2,480 KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Milestone Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,480 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,563,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KLAC. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at $239,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of KLA by 556.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 105 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at $312,000. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at $381,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of KLA by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,178 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,409,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $712.97 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $581.70 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $669.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $718.54.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $812.47.

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.