Monte Financial Group LLC Raises Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Monte Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,897 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Monte Financial Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 366 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 384 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 1.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,459,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in KLA by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 582 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $749.82 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock has a market cap of $100.30 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $663.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $723.76. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $581.70 and a 52-week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted 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. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.74 earnings per share. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.34 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer raised shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $806.35.

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.