Grove Bank & Trust Sells 14 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Grove Bank & Trust cut its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 601 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 14 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in KLA were worth $379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,647,708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 301,987 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of KLA by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after purchasing an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 235,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in shares of KLA by 10,766.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $176,720,000 after buying an additional 226,100 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. TD Cowen cut their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $806.60.

KLA Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $757.47 on Monday. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $577.00 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The company has a market capitalization of $101.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $654.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $724.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.74 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 30.37 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. KLA’s payout ratio is 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.