Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD Increases Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD boosted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 160.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD’s holdings in KLA were worth $41,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lifeworks Advisors LLC raised its position in KLA by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 3,310 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,085,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in KLA by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 582 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 905.0% in the fourth quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 4,442 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,799,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. River Global Investors LLP increased its position in shares of KLA by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. River Global Investors LLP now owns 24,504 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $15,443,000 after buying an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 22,287 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,043,000 after buying an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $831.68.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $711.29 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $722.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $711.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

KLA 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.