Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Boosts Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,388 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,011 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $20,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in KLA by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,630,424,000 after acquiring an additional 145,317 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in KLA by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,487,971,000 after acquiring an additional 93,743 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in KLA by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,394,260 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $953,774,000 after acquiring an additional 119,845 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in KLA by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,153,043 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $726,555,000 after acquiring an additional 64,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its position in KLA by 5.5% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 945,835 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $732,464,000 after acquiring an additional 49,470 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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KLA Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $3.15 on Thursday, reaching $716.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 628,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 946,970. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $609.40 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $95.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $728.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $704.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. KLA's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $830.67.

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.