Oarsman Capital Inc. Cuts Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Oarsman Capital Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 32.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 31 shares during the quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $40,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in shares of KLA by 82.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded KLA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $748.00 to $870.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $725.00 price target (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $832.17.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC opened at $576.53 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.61 billion, a PE ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $546.54 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $716.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $699.57.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.