Verity & Verity LLC Purchases 114 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Verity & Verity LLC raised its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 885 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in KLA by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 590 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 3,671 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,969 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,241,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 6,691 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,216,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in KLA by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 104,804 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $66,039,000 after purchasing an additional 26,757 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $757.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13. The firm has a market cap of $101.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $654.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $726.15. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $577.00 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.74 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.37 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays reduced their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven research 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $806.60.

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.