Fortis Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Fortis Capital Management LLC raised its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 36.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,342 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,690 shares during the quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 253 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 246 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $155,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 755 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of KLA by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 582 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.67.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC opened at $706.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $729.52 and a 200 day moving average of $703.53.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

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.