SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 66.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,136 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 4,219 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $1,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of KLA by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $4,630,424,000 after acquiring an additional 145,317 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 32,828.8% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,408,617 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 increased its stake 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 worth $1,083,684,000 after purchasing an additional 286,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $959,695,000 after buying an additional 21,412 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC traded up $39.48 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $755.73. The stock had a trading volume of 1,310,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,207,880. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $552.85 and a 1 year high of $896.32. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $651.44 and a 200 day moving average of $726.56. The company has a market cap of $101.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.51, 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 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. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The firm's revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA's payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on KLAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Barclays reduced their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut 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 fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $809.10.

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.