HBW Advisory Services LLC Acquires 45 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 826 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 45 shares during the quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in KLA by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,630,424,000 after purchasing an additional 145,317 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,647,708,000 after buying an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,487,971,000 after buying an additional 93,743 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in KLA by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,811,766 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,318,329,000 after buying an additional 28,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in KLA by 25.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 286,015 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $683.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $650.27 and its 200-day moving average is $729.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $549.63 and a 12 month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.74 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KLAC. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $812.47.

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.