Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 2,160 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,657 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,160 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $13,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on KLAC. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen lowered their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $812.47.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $702.92 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $668.09 and a 200-day moving average of $719.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $581.70 and a twelve month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research 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. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 31.05%.

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.