KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stake Trimmed by West Coast Financial LLC

West Coast Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 61.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,527 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,001 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in KLA by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,630,424,000 after purchasing an additional 145,317 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,487,971,000 after buying an additional 93,743 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in KLA by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after buying an additional 286,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of KLA by 1.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $959,695,000 after purchasing an additional 21,412 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $740.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $552.85 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $651.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $726.56.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.74 EPS. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 30.37 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays lowered their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $809.10.

About KLA

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.