Zhang Financial LLC Has $2.54 Million Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Zhang Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,036 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 540 shares during the quarter. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB boosted 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 purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 6,279 shares during the period. Eastern Bank grew its position in KLA by 655.8% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $21,194,000 after buying an additional 23,747 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV increased its stake in KLA by 52.4% during 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 period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in KLA by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on KLAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer raised shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $806.60.

KLA Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $757.47 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $101.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $654.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $724.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $577.00 and a 52-week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.37 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 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.