KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Holdings Cut by Hills Bank & Trust Co

Hills Bank & Trust Co reduced its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,324 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 239 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in KLA by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 253 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in KLA by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 246 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 755 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $830.67.

KLA Stock Up 4.6 %

KLAC stock opened at $713.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $726.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $707.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $609.40 and a 52-week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its 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, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

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.