Mather Group LLC. Sells 350 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Mather Group LLC. lessened its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 17.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,649 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth about $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in KLA during the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 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 thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $831.68.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $749.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $677.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $716.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $595.86 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $100.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.8 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.60%.

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.