Smith Salley Wealth Management Trims Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Smith Salley Wealth Management trimmed its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,119 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in KLA were worth $705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 3.7% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 366 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 384 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 1.1% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,433 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in KLA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,459,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in KLA by 2.8% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 582 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer raised shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $806.60.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $757.47 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $654.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $724.46. 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 $101.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $577.00 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.74 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.37 EPS for the current 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 given a $1.70 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

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.