D.A. Davidson & CO. Grows Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,429 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 32,828.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 76,452.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $234,168,000 after purchasing an additional 301,987 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in KLA by 25.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after purchasing an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in KLA by 10,766.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $176,720,000 after purchasing an additional 226,100 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in KLA by 84.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 441,053 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $277,916,000 after purchasing an additional 201,649 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Trading Down 3.0 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $754.30 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $609.40 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $100.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $706.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $715.48.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on KLAC shares. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $831.68.

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.