Greenleaf Trust Cuts Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Greenleaf Trust trimmed its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,794 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 357 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 22.7% in the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 538.5% in the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,765,000 after acquiring an additional 6,279 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 655.8% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $21,194,000 after buying an additional 23,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 52.4% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $61,769,000 after buying an additional 27,436 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $738.24 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $675.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $716.79. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $581.70 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. Equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 30.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm 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. 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 0.92%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. 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, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $829.32.

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.