KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by CGN Advisors LLC

CGN Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 16.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,908 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 756 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $2,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in KLA in the third quarter valued at $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in KLA during the third quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KLAC. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $925.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $806.60.

KLA Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $10.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $757.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,402,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 925,800. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $577.00 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $654.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $725.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.74 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.37 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors 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 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 payout ratio is 31.05%.

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.