Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Cuts Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lessened its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,949 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $7,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. United Bank purchased a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at approximately $339,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,919,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,705 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 45.2% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 2,710 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,099,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in KLA by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 945,835 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $732,464,000 after acquiring an additional 49,470 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $825.39.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Stock Down 3.8 %

KLAC opened at $673.60 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $727.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $703.11. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $609.40 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $89.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.60%.

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.