KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Holdings Cut by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC reduced its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 4.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 891,247 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 39,587 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $690,191,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in KLA by 0.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 538.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 6,279 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its position in shares of KLA by 655.8% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,194,000 after acquiring an additional 23,747 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its position in shares of KLA by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $61,769,000 after acquiring an additional 27,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of KLA by 39.0% during the 3rd quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,882 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $632.14 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $527.11 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $704.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $758.96. The firm has a market cap of $84.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup cut their price objective on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $815.55.

About KLA

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.