KBC Group NV Decreases Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

KBC Group NV reduced its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 70.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,358 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 83,920 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in KLA were worth $27,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter worth $379,678,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 76,452.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $234,168,000 after acquiring an additional 301,987 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in KLA by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after purchasing an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in KLA by 6,188.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $185,397,000 after purchasing an additional 235,597 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in KLA by 2,205.8% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 201,592 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $166,215,000 after purchasing an additional 192,849 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $802.90.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded down $30.54 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $614.46. 1,712,201 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 961,993. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $721.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $762.59. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $527.11 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The firm has a market cap of $82.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.06, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.74 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

About KLA

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.