Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC Trims Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC reduced its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,236 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,112,261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,159,832,000 after purchasing an additional 76,226 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of KLA by 1.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 28,172 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of KLA by 2.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,829,352,000 after purchasing an additional 71,289 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of KLA by 25.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,083,684,000 after purchasing an additional 286,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in KLA by 1.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $959,695,000 after purchasing an additional 21,412 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 0.4 %

KLA stock traded down $2.67 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $663.36. 180,064 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 950,768. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $524.03 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $728.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $765.24.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.84 billion for 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. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Argus boosted their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $802.90.

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.