Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Boosts Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 95.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,767 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 862 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in KLA by 32,828.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,647,708,000 after buying an additional 3,408,617 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in KLA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $379,678,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in KLA by 76,452.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $234,168,000 after buying an additional 301,987 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in KLA by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,083,684,000 after buying an additional 286,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in KLA by 6,188.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $185,397,000 after buying an additional 235,597 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of KLAC opened at $616.83 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $527.11 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $717.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $762.78. The stock has a market cap of $82.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly 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. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.74 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. StockNews.com raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $802.90.

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.