KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by abrdn plc

abrdn plc lessened its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 62,452 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,144 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in KLA were worth $39,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 3,408,617 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 301,987 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased 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 purchasing an additional 286,015 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased 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 purchasing an additional 235,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased 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 purchasing an additional 226,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KLAC. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $831.68.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC opened at $759.15 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $680.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $715.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $595.86 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.88 billion, a PE ratio of 31.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.8 EPS for the current year.

About KLA

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.