Cerity Partners LLC Increases Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 10.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,153 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 8,409 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.07% of KLA worth $67,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen dropped their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $815.55.

KLA Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $639.55 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $710.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $760.62. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $527.11 and a twelve month high of $896.32. 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 company has a market capitalization of $85.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.29.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

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.