Conning Inc. Purchases 954 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Conning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,018 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 954 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $5,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in KLA by 0.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 538.5% in the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,765,000 after acquiring an additional 6,279 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its position in shares of KLA by 655.8% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,194,000 after acquiring an additional 23,747 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV boosted its stake in KLA by 52.4% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $831.68.

KLA Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $747.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. The company has a market capitalization of $100.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.44, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $608.16 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $685.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $716.53.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. Research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.