Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Boosts Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 97.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,198 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,053 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 253 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 246 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $155,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 755 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,459,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $692.13 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $720.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $712.31. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $609.40 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 currently 28.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Barclays increased their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $831.68.

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.