Souders Financial Advisors Increases Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Souders Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 431 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in KLA were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its position in shares of KLA by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $61,769,000 after purchasing an additional 27,436 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of KLA by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,008,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 2.4 %

KLAC stock opened at $715.81 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $95.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.10, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $720.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $712.45. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $609.40 and a 52 week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on KLAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report 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. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $831.68.

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.