CreativeOne Wealth LLC Reduces Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

CreativeOne Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,594 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 116 shares during the quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mariner LLC boosted its position in KLA by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 143,217 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $90,252,000 after buying an additional 617 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 890,660 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $561,223,000 after acquiring an additional 43,663 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in KLA by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 7,181 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,525,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,559 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,503,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $676.21 on Wednesday. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $89.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $702.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $693.06.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. As a group, equities analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $725.00 price target (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $825.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $814.11.

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.