Stephens Inc. AR Trims Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 69.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,465 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,338 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in KLA by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,112,261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,159,832,000 after buying an additional 76,226 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,811,766 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,318,329,000 after acquiring an additional 28,172 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,829,352,000 after acquiring an additional 71,289 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in KLA by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $959,695,000 after purchasing an additional 21,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in KLA by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,113,352 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $917,970,000 after purchasing an additional 81,335 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup dropped their price target on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $925.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $802.90.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $663.37 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $741.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $764.25. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $495.10 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $88.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.29.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 29.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.