Assetmark Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 118,991 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,934 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc. owned 0.09% of KLA worth $92,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 77.3% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the first quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on KLAC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of KLA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $802.90.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC traded up $1.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $687.41. 1,278,083 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,220,755. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $91.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.29. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $731.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $763.72.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 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 firm's revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given 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 is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.48%.

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.