Alta Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.16 Million Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Alta Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of KLA by 2.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,630,424,000 after acquiring an additional 145,317 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,647,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,408,617 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,487,971,000 after purchasing an additional 93,743 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of KLA by 25.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after buying an additional 286,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 5.5% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 945,835 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $732,464,000 after buying an additional 49,470 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $742.43 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $671.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $718.50. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $581.70 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The firm has a market cap of $99.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. Analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 30.34 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of 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 reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $821.95.

About KLA

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.