West Coast Financial LLC Has $1.59 Million Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

West Coast Financial LLC trimmed its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 61.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,527 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,001 shares during the quarter. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 3.7% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 366 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 4.1% in the third quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 384 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,433 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,459,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in KLA by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 582 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $740.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a fifty day moving average of $651.44 and a 200-day moving average of $726.56. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $552.85 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.74 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.37 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KLAC. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $809.10.

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.