Berbice Capital Management LLC Acquires New Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 870 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $548,000. KLA makes up approximately 0.4% of Berbice Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in KLA during the second quarter worth approximately $297,000. AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at $256,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 832 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in KLA by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 30,539 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,180,000 after buying an additional 1,624 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth $693,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $755.15 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $581.70 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $661.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $723.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market cap of $101.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Oppenheimer raised shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note 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 note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $806.35.

About KLA

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.