Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Acquires 2,112 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 27.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $6,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 538.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,279 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its stake in KLA by 655.8% in the third 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 during the period. 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. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in KLA by 14.1% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,112 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $809.10.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $740.80 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $552.85 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $99.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $651.44 and its 200 day moving average is $726.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly 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. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.74 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 31.05%.

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.