Aprio Wealth Management LLC Boosts Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 24.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 477 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 538.5% in the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,765,000 after acquiring an additional 6,279 shares during the period. Eastern Bank grew its position in shares of KLA by 655.8% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $21,194,000 after acquiring an additional 23,747 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 52.4% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $61,769,000 after acquiring an additional 27,436 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in KLA by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $809.10.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $690.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a one year low of $552.85 and a one year high of $896.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $650.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $727.43.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.74 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid 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 yield of 0.98%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 31.05%.

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.