Freedom Investment Management Inc. Has $2.01 Million Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 23.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,595 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 796 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% during 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 position 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 worth $5,765,000 after buying an additional 6,279 shares during the period. Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 655.8% during the third 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 position in shares of KLA by 52.4% in the third 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 period. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of KLA by 39.0% in the third quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,882 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $815.55.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $631.47 on Wednesday. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $527.11 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $706.36 and a 200-day moving average of $759.85. 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 cap of $84.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.74 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

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.