Hanson & Doremus Investment Management Lowers Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management trimmed its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 15 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in KLA were worth $86,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% during 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 buying an additional 3,408,617 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in KLA by 76,452.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $234,168,000 after acquiring an additional 301,987 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in KLA by 25.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 286,015 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased 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 worth $185,397,000 after purchasing an additional 235,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of KLA by 10,766.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $176,720,000 after purchasing an additional 226,100 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $742.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. KLA Co. has a one year low of $581.70 and a one year high of $896.32. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $671.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $718.50. The company has a market capitalization of $99.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. Sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on KLAC. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $812.47.

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.