Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Grows Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 34.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 104,804 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 26,757 shares during the quarter. KLA makes up about 1.2% of Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.08% of KLA worth $66,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 3.7% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 366 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 4.1% in the third quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 384 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 1.1% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,433 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,110,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,459,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in KLA by 2.8% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 582 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of KLA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $750.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased 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 note on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $806.60.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $10.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $757.47. 1,402,515 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 925,800. The company has a market cap of $101.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $577.00 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $654.99 and a 200 day moving average of $725.36. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 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 posted $5.74 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.37 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 given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

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.