Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Raises Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 341 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the third quarter worth $29,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in KLA by 82.3% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the period. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Stock Down 2.1 %

KLAC stock opened at $664.22 on Wednesday. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The business’s 50-day moving average is $723.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $708.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. The company has a market cap of $88.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. As a group, analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s payout ratio is 28.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna boosted their target price on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $831.68.

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.