SG Americas Securities LLC Decreases Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

SG Americas Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 27.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,740 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 11,132 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $18,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 538.5% in the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,765,000 after buying an additional 6,279 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its stake in KLA by 655.8% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,194,000 after buying an additional 23,747 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in KLA by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $61,769,000 after buying an additional 27,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of KLA by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $806.35.

KLA Stock Up 0.6 %

KLAC stock opened at $771.91 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $658.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $723.16. 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 company has a market capitalization of $103.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $581.70 and a 52 week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. KLA’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

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.