Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Lowers Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,804 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 18 shares during the quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in KLA by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 253 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in KLA by 6.5% during the fourth 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 raised its holdings in KLA by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 755 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in KLA by 2.8% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $830.67.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $716.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $95.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a PEG 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. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $729.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $704.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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