Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lowered its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,362 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 353 shares during the period. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $10,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KLAC. Swedbank AB grew its position in KLA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its position in KLA by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. ING Groep NV grew its position in KLA by 52.4% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $61,769,000 after acquiring an additional 27,436 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in KLA by 14.1% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,112 shares during the period. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in KLA during the third quarter valued at about $1,008,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on KLAC. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $831.68.

KLA Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $715.81 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $720.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $712.45. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $609.40 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.10, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 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 the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

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.