Perpetual Ltd Reduces Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Perpetual Ltd trimmed its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 62.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 580 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 978 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in KLA were worth $365,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zhang Financial LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 4,036 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,543,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in KLA by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 9,245 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,825,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its stake in KLA by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 56,744 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,757,000 after buying an additional 12,861 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, My Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $760.95 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $661.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $723.50. 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 1-year low of $581.70 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $101.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.74 EPS. KLA’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 31.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $806.35.

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.