Fifth Third Bancorp Decreases Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Fifth Third Bancorp lowered its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,479 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 140 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in KLA were worth $6,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 82.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in KLA during the third quarter worth about $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KLAC. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $812.47.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC opened at $749.82 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $100.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.27. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $666.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $721.89. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $581.70 and a 12-month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.34 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

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.