KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by New Century Financial Group LLC

New Century Financial Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 576 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 115 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 386 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,508 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,882,000 after acquiring an additional 2,089 shares in the last quarter. Paradiem LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 9,905 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,241,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474 shares during the period. Global Trust Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 749 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 585 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $806.35.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $749.82 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $663.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $723.76. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $581.70 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.74 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.34 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.70 dividend. 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 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. 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.