Independent Advisor Alliance Has $2.42 Million Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Independent Advisor Alliance trimmed its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,122 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 26 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 538.5% in the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,765,000 after purchasing an additional 6,279 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its stake in KLA by 655.8% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,194,000 after purchasing an additional 23,747 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its stake in KLA by 52.4% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $61,769,000 after purchasing an additional 27,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in KLA by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,882 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $644.67 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $708.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $760.47. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $527.11 and a 1 year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen cut their target price 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. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer raised shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $815.55.

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.