Swedbank AB Acquires 59,100 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Swedbank AB increased its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 610,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 59,100 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in KLA were worth $384,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KLAC. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 366 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC increased its position in KLA by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 4.1% in the third quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 384 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 1.1% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,433 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,110,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,459,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC stock traded up $13.81 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $716.73. The company had a trading volume of 73,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,230,682. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $95.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $669.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $718.54. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $581.70 and a 1 year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.74 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Susquehanna increased their price target on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $812.47.

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.