Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 191 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Financial Counselors Inc. cut its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,291 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 191 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in KLA by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD grew its stake in shares of KLA by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 65 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on KLAC. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $825.39.

KLA Trading Down 3.8 %

KLAC opened at $673.60 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $727.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $703.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.