KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Holdings Lifted by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 84.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 441,053 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 201,649 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.33% of KLA worth $277,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in shares of KLA by 82.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA in the third quarter valued at $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $925.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen lowered their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $809.10.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC traded up $14.99 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $716.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,367,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,198,303. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $651.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $726.56. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $95.81 billion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $552.85 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change 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.