KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC

Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,218 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 18 shares during the period. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Swedbank AB raised its position in KLA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its stake in KLA by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $61,769,000 after acquiring an additional 27,436 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in KLA by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenwich Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 260.7% during the third quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,378 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on KLAC shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $831.68.

KLA Stock Down 2.2 %

KLAC opened at $737.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. The company has a market cap of $98.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.02, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a one year low of $609.40 and a one year high of $896.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $710.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $715.85.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. Analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

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.