Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 13,580 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $8,557,000.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of KLA by 2.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $4,630,424,000 after acquiring an additional 145,317 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after buying an additional 3,408,617 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,487,971,000 after buying an additional 93,743 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 25.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,083,684,000 after buying an additional 286,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in KLA by 1.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $959,695,000 after acquiring an additional 21,412 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $925.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $806.60.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on KLAC
KLA Trading Up 1.4 %
Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $10.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $757.47. 1,402,515 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 925,800. The company's 50-day moving average is $654.99 and its 200-day moving average is $726.15. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $577.00 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27.
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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm's revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.74 earnings per share. Analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.
KLA Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. KLA's payout ratio is 31.05%.
About KLA
(
Free Report)
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.
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