KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Motco

Motco lowered its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 593 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. Motco’s holdings in KLA were worth $374,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in KLA by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 6,935 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,370,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in KLA by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 55,799 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,160,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt raised its stake in KLA by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 423,300 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $266,683,000 after acquiring an additional 90,000 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in KLA by 114,444.5% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 342,488 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $215,809,000 after acquiring an additional 342,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in KLA by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,272 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,856,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $708.84 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $609.40 and a 1-year high of $896.32. 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 company has a market capitalization of $94.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $716.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $715.41.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share 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 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 0.96%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.