Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Sells 100 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. reduced its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Rating) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,206 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in KLA were worth $7,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KLAC. D Orazio & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Selective Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth $52,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 28.9% during the third quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 156 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 86.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,418 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.06, for a total value of $503,475.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded KLA from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $430.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Sunday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on KLA in a research note on Wednesday, January 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $515.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their price target on KLA from $350.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 12th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on KLA from $450.00 to $505.00 in a research report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.71.

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $341.21 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $358.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $378.54. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $285.89 and a 1 year high of $457.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.76.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 27th. The semiconductor company reported $5.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.43 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.33 billion. KLA had a net margin of 36.57% and a return on equity of 79.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 20.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 14th were issued a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 11th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. KLA’s payout ratio is 21.62%.

KLA Company Profile (Get Rating)

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related nanoelectronics industries worldwide. The company offers chip and wafer manufacturing products, including defect inspection and review systems, metrology solutions, in situ process monitoring products, computational lithography software, and data analytics systems for chip manufacturers to manage yield throughout the semiconductor fabrication process.

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