Bank of New York Mellon Corp Increases Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,153,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,238 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in KLA were worth $726,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. 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% in the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 246 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $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, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.1% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,433 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered 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 thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $831.68.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $724.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a market capitalization of $96.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.49, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $711.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $715.70.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. Analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 0.94%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

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.