Richardson Financial Services Inc. Acquires 14 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 253 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $160,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 82.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth about $56,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on KLAC. Oppenheimer raised shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $829.32.

KLA Price Performance

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

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly 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 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 30.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

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.