Hartford Financial Management Inc. Has $1.96 Million Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 36.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,111 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 824 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $2,647,708,000 after buying an additional 3,408,617 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $234,168,000 after purchasing an additional 301,987 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in KLA by 25.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 6,188.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $185,397,000 after buying an additional 235,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in KLA by 10,766.7% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $176,720,000 after buying an additional 226,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock opened at $742.43 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $581.70 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $671.76 and its 200-day moving average is $718.50. The company has a market cap of $99.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.34 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $812.47.

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.