Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Acquires 2,011 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,388 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,011 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $20,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in KLA by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of KLA by 82.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 65 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $830.67.

KLA Trading Up 4.6 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $713.00 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $94.75 billion, a PE ratio of 29.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $726.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $705.71. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $609.40 and a 12 month high of $896.32.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

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.