Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Cuts Holdings in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC decreased its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,306 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,749 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $53,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,087 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,251,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT boosted its position in KLA by 6.7% during the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Capital Management Co. acquired a new stake in KLA in the third quarter valued at $242,000. Navellier & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in KLA by 9.4% in the third quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 2,493 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,689,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan increased its position in shares of KLA by 300.3% in the third quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 8,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,341,000 after buying an additional 6,585 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $1,464.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $191.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.60, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,377.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,166.85. KLA Corporation has a 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $1,693.35.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.75 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.76% and a return on equity of 98.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on KLAC. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of KLA from $820.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,800.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,450.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, January 30th. Argus raised their target price on shares of KLA from $1,400.00 to $1,750.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on KLA from $1,550.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,598.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total transaction of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at $39,774,819.54. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About KLA

KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA’s offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.

Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.