KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Holdings Cut by Perennial Investment Advisors LLC

Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 659 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 54 shares during the quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 82.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 7.1 %

KLA stock opened at $576.53 on Friday. KLA Co. has a one year low of $559.76 and a one year high of $896.32. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $716.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $699.79. The company has a market capitalization of $76.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, 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 given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KLAC shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $832.17.

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.