River Street Advisors LLC Cuts Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

River Street Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,332 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 81 shares during the period. KLA comprises about 1.0% of River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in KLA by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,659 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,480,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 132,051 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $102,262,000 after buying an additional 2,044 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in KLA by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,281 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,608,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its position in KLA by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays cut their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $802.90.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $30.54 on Friday, hitting $614.46. The company had a trading volume of 1,712,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 961,993. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company has a market cap of $82.19 billion, a PE ratio of 28.06, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $527.11 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $721.02 and a 200 day moving average of $762.59.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 26.48%.

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.