KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC

Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 435 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 76 shares during the quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $297,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 2.8% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in KLA by 3.4% in the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 2,585 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,131,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the second quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of KLA by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 24,403 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $20,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $806.60.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $757.47 on Monday. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $577.00 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The company has a market capitalization of $101.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $654.99 and a 200-day moving average of $724.46. 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 (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

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.