Sabal Trust CO Purchases New Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Sabal Trust CO acquired a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,392 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $877,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in KLA by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 253 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its position in KLA by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 246 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 755 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of KLA by 1.1% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,433 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $724.97 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $96.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $711.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $715.70.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (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 anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

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 issued 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 0.94%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $831.68.

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.