Sanctuary Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,861 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $16,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 32,828.8% in 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 period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 76,452.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $234,168,000 after acquiring an additional 301,987 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in KLA by 25.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,083,684,000 after acquiring an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in KLA by 6,188.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $185,397,000 after acquiring an additional 235,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in KLA by 10,766.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $176,720,000 after purchasing an additional 226,100 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KLAC. Citigroup cut their target price 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays dropped their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on KLA from $870.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $812.30.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $646.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13. The firm has a market cap of $86.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $680.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $751.66. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $542.41 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.74 EPS. On average, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

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.