KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Ayrshire Capital Management LLC

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 71.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,979 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,936 shares during the quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake 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 worth $2,647,708,000 after buying an additional 3,408,617 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 76,452.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $234,168,000 after purchasing an additional 301,987 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of KLA by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,083,684,000 after buying an additional 286,015 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 6,188.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $185,397,000 after buying an additional 235,597 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in KLA by 10,766.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $176,720,000 after acquiring an additional 226,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KLAC. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $809.10.

KLA Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $690.99 on Tuesday. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $552.85 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $650.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $727.43. The company has a market capitalization of $92.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.