Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. Sells 1,126 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. cut its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,252 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,126 shares during the period. KLA accounts for approximately 1.7% of Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $6,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of KLAC. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $80,000. CCM Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 12,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. now owns 3,348 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,069,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of KLA by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 251 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 4,023.1% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Trading Down 6.0%

KLA stock opened at $1,451.13 on Friday. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $1,693.35. The company has a market capitalization of $190.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,480.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,277.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

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

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 12th that permits the company to repurchase $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore increased their price objective on KLA from $1,350.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,550.00 to $1,600.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of KLA from $1,450.00 to $1,800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,800.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,602.29.

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.