KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 687 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 58 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in KLA by 2.5% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,369 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,804,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC bought a new position in KLA during the third quarter valued at about $277,000. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 9.5% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 6,828 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,288,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. MWA Asset Management raised its stake in KLA by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at $820,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of KLAC opened at $631.22 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $712.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $760.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13. The company has a market cap of $84.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.29. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $527.11 and a 52-week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.74 EPS. Analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $802.90.

KLA Company 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.