KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Private Trust Co. NA

Private Trust Co. NA lowered its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 23.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 850 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 264 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in KLA were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in KLA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,660,000 after buying an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its position in KLA by 3.6% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 597 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in KLA by 16.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 819 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. raised its position in KLA by 6.5% in the third quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 310 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Greenwich Wealth Management LLC raised its position in KLA by 260.7% in the third quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,378 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $831.68.

KLA Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $708.84 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $716.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $714.86. The stock has a market cap of $94.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $609.40 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. As a group, analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

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.