Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Increases Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,388 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 2,011 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $20,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 3.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in KLA by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 253 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 246 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $155,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 755 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in KLA by 2.8% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 582 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 4.6 %

KLA stock opened at $713.00 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $94.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $726.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $705.71. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $609.40 and a twelve month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. KLA’s payout ratio is 28.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.67.

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.