Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 84.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 441,053 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 201,649 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.33% of KLA worth $277,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 3.7% during the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 366 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 384 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in KLA by 1.1% during the 3rd 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 period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted 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. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.8% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 582 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
A number of brokerages recently commented on KLAC. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded KLA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $750.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com cut KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $809.10.
Get Our Latest Research Report on KLAC
Shares of KLAC opened at $701.26 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $651.44 and a 200-day moving average of $726.56. The company has a market cap of $93.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a one year low of $552.85 and a one year high of $896.32.
KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.74 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.61 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.
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.
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