Commerce Bank Has $5.29 Million Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Commerce Bank grew its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 9.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,828 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 590 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in KLA were worth $5,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Swedbank AB raised 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 acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $5,765,000 after buying an additional 6,279 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 655.8% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $21,194,000 after buying an additional 23,747 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV boosted its holdings 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 worth $61,769,000 after buying an additional 27,436 shares during the period. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $631.22 on Friday. KLA Co. has a one year low of $527.11 and a one year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a market cap of $84.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $712.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $760.85.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.74 EPS. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus upped their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $802.90.

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.