Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc Acquires 856 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,245 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 856 shares during the quarter. KLA comprises 3.0% of Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s holdings in KLA were worth $5,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in KLA in the second quarter worth about $297,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 2,585 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,131,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the second quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in KLA by 8.0% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 24,403 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $20,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $806.60.

KLA Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $757.47 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $101.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $654.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $724.46. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $577.00 and a 12 month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.74 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.37 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.