Morse Asset Management Inc Cuts Stock Holdings in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Morse Asset Management Inc decreased its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,103 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 450 shares during the period. KLA comprises approximately 2.0% of Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings in KLA were worth $9,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,087 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,251,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 271 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 9 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in KLA by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 836 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $902,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its position in KLA by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 267 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in KLA by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 45 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $1,438.24 on Tuesday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1,466.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,247.05. KLA Corporation has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $1,693.35. The company has a market cap of $188.52 billion, a PE ratio of 41.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.45.

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

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, March 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to buy up to 3.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $1,630.00 price target on KLA in a report on Friday, January 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on KLA from $1,300.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore upped their target price on KLA from $1,350.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.