Eventide Asset Management LLC Has $44.54 Million Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Eventide Asset Management LLC reduced its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,517 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,258 shares during the quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $44,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $250,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter worth $45,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in KLA by 83.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,077,000 after acquiring an additional 11,764 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in KLA by 399.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 9,359 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,538,000 after acquiring an additional 7,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 10.5% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $632.14 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $701.57 and a 200-day moving average of $758.08. The company has a market cap of $84.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.29. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $527.11 and a 52 week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup dropped their price target on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $815.55.

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.