Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Boosts Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 70.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,353 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.'s holdings in KLA were worth $853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,455 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $6,147,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of KLA by 58.5% during the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 566 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 10.1% during the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 608 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 12.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,963 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,860,000 after purchasing an additional 1,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in KLA by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 30,266 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $24,955,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of KLAC traded up $31.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $747.26. 2,018,988 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,281,069. The business has a 50 day moving average of $652.37 and a 200 day moving average of $726.49. The company has a market capitalization of $99.95 billion, a PE ratio of 34.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $552.85 and a 1-year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The business 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%. KLA's revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.74 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.37 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. KLA's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $925.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC raised KLA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $750.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $809.10.

KLA Company 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.