KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Bought by Souders Financial Advisors

Souders Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 431 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in KLA were worth $272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of KLA by 2.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,630,424,000 after acquiring an additional 145,317 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,408,617 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,487,971,000 after acquiring an additional 93,743 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of KLA by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,153,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $726,555,000 after acquiring an additional 64,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 5.5% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 945,835 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $732,464,000 after acquiring an additional 49,470 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $831.68.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $715.81 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a market capitalization of $95.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $720.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $712.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.60%.

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.