Hilltop National Bank Sells 208 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Hilltop National Bank trimmed its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,587 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 208 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 2,002.3% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 925 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $763,000 after buying an additional 881 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC raised its position in KLA by 28.4% in the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $59,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 91,004 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $75,033,000 after acquiring an additional 4,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 15.2% during the second quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 37,900 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $31,249,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $812.47.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC traded down $5.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $681.04. 420,720 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,034,587. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $549.63 and a 52-week high of $896.32. 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 company has a market capitalization of $91.10 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $649.99 and its 200-day moving average is $730.29.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

About KLA

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.