Ifrah Financial Services Inc. Trims Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Ifrah Financial Services Inc. lessened its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 209 shares during the period. Ifrah Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 30,558 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,016,000 after acquiring an additional 4,089 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in KLA by 5.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 132,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $60,828,000 after purchasing an additional 7,271 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 31,568 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,479,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth about $215,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.8% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,952 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,272,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC stock traded up $14.54 on Friday, reaching $696.59. The company had a trading volume of 820,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 889,883. The company’s fifty day moving average is $688.02 and its 200 day moving average is $607.66. The company has a market cap of $93.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.49, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $369.66 and a 1 year high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.24 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on KLAC. Barclays increased their price objective on KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $722.26.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets 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, Display and Component Inspection.