KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC trimmed its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 27.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 28,740 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 11,132 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $18,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $2,647,708,000 after buying an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in KLA by 76,452.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $234,168,000 after purchasing an additional 301,987 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in KLA by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,083,684,000 after purchasing an additional 286,015 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in KLA by 6,188.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $185,397,000 after purchasing an additional 235,597 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of KLA by 10,766.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $176,720,000 after buying an additional 226,100 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $771.91 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $103.25 billion, a PE ratio of 35.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. KLA Co. has a one year low of $581.70 and a one year high of $896.32. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $658.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $723.16.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.34 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. 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. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $806.35.

KLA Company 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.