FourThought Financial Partners LLC Invests $3.07 Million in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,870 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,069,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in KLA by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 499 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,153,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $726,555,000 after buying an additional 64,238 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co boosted its holdings in KLA by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 696 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in KLA by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 254,365 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $160,280,000 after purchasing an additional 86,077 shares during the period. Finally, Edge Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 72.3% in the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 9,134 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,756,000 after purchasing an additional 3,833 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Susquehanna boosted their price target on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $831.68.

KLA Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $737.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $98.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $710.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $715.85. 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 current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share 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%. Analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 28.60%.

KLA Company 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.