Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Decreases Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 36.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 62,869 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 36,622 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $39,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,630,424,000 after buying an additional 145,317 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 32,828.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,487,971,000 after acquiring an additional 93,743 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,153,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $726,555,000 after acquiring an additional 64,238 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 5.5% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 945,835 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $732,464,000 after buying an additional 49,470 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $691.15 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $717.73 and its 200 day moving average is $713.28. The company has a market capitalization of $91.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.06, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $609.40 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $831.68.

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.