Westover Capital Advisors LLC Trims Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,502 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 314 shares during the period. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in KLA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 27,436 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in KLA by 14.1% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in KLA during the third quarter worth about $1,008,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Down 2.5 %

KLAC stock opened at $691.15 on Tuesday. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $717.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $713.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. The company has a market capitalization of $91.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on KLAC. Barclays lifted their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $831.68.

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.