AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Has $40.87 Million Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,806 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 20,114 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in KLA were worth $40,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $426,660,000 after buying an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its position in KLA by 538.5% during the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $5,765,000 after purchasing an additional 6,279 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its position in KLA by 655.8% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $21,194,000 after purchasing an additional 23,747 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in KLA by 16.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 76,951 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $53,756,000 after purchasing an additional 10,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in KLA by 39.0% during the third quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,882 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on KLAC. Barclays reduced their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $802.90.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $687.41. 1,278,083 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,220,755. The company has a market capitalization of $91.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.29. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $505.50 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $731.06 and a 200 day moving average of $763.72.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.74 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.48%.

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.