KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Bought by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 8.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,102 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,829 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $17,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB raised its holdings 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 last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 538.5% during the third 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 grew its holdings in KLA by 655.8% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,194,000 after buying an additional 23,747 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV increased its stake in shares of KLA by 52.4% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $61,769,000 after acquiring an additional 27,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,112 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $652.37 on Tuesday. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $542.41 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $684.86 and a 200 day moving average of $753.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company has a market capitalization of $87.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued 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 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 company’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective 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. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays reduced their target price 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, Susquehanna cut their price objective on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $812.30.

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.