Dover Advisors LLC Buys 647 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Dover Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,692 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. KLA comprises approximately 1.7% of Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth $53,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Oppenheimer raised shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Susquehanna upped their price objective on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $831.68.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $754.30 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $708.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $715.96. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a market capitalization of $100.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. KLA’s payout ratio is 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.