Smith Anglin Financial LLC Sells 24 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Smith Anglin Financial LLC reduced its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 359 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 24 shares during the quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 3.7% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 366 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 4.1% during the third quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 384 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.1% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,433 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,459,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.8% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 582 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $809.10.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $721.03 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $651.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $726.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $552.85 and a 52-week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.74 EPS. Research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 31.05%.

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.