ERn Financial LLC Has $607,000 Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

ERn Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 963 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the quarter. ERn Financial LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at $58,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $716.25 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $651.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $726.56. 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 company has a market cap of $95.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $552.85 and a twelve month 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.74 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. KLA’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $809.10.

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.