Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Sells 24 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lowered its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 319 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 77.3% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group cut their price objective on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Argus raised their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $802.90.

KLA Trading Up 0.1 %

KLAC opened at $645.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $724.45 and a 200 day moving average of $764.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $527.11 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The firm has a market cap of $86.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.29.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.74 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 26.48%.

KLA Company 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.