E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Sells 1,135 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB decreased its holdings in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,843 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,135 shares during the period. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings in KLA were worth $5,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Westpac Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of KLA by 11.2% during the third quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 9,276 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,005,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments increased its holdings in KLA by 631.6% in the 2nd quarter. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments now owns 15,290 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,603,000 after buying an additional 13,200 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in KLA by 4,023.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,303,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $133,209,000. Finally, Oak Associates Ltd. OH lifted its stake in KLA by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oak Associates Ltd. OH now owns 90,116 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $80,721,000 after acquiring an additional 1,504 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC opened at $1,511.43 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1,477.68 and its 200 day moving average is $1,269.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $198.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.98, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.45. KLA Corporation has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $1,693.35.

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

KLA declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 3.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,400.00 to $1,750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,800.00 to $1,900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $1,300.00 to $1,800.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,602.29.

KLA Profile

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.