Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Lowers Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. reduced its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 98.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,565 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 139,977 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,647,708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,408,617 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 114,444.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 342,488 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $215,809,000 after buying an additional 342,189 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in KLA by 84.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 441,053 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $277,916,000 after buying an additional 201,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $128,482,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Stock Up 2.4 %

KLA stock opened at $715.81 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $720.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $712.45. The company has a market capitalization of $95.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KLAC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $831.68.

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.