Sovran Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 355 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bristlecone Advisors LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 2,583 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,628,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 98.8% in the fourth quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 493 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA purchased a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Visionary Horizons LLC lifted its position in KLA by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Visionary Horizons LLC now owns 848 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $10,157,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $831.68.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $764.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $692.63 and a 200-day moving average of $715.14. The stock has a market cap of $101.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $609.40 and a 52 week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company 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 0.89%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio 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.