Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Buys 1,224 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 52,880 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $33,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in KLA in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in shares of KLA by 82.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Down 3.0 %

KLAC stock opened at $754.30 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $708.55 and a 200-day moving average of $715.96. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a market capitalization of $100.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.72, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share 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 research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 28.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $831.68.

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.