Milestone Asset Management LLC Invests $1.56 Million in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Milestone Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,480 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,563,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in KLA by 22.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its stake in KLA by 538.5% in the third 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 increased 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 purchasing an additional 23,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its stake in KLA by 52.4% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $61,769,000 after purchasing an additional 27,436 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $812.47.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $712.97 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $669.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $718.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.56, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a one year low of $581.70 and a one year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 31.05%.

KLA Company 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.