Verity & Verity LLC Has $597,000 Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Verity & Verity LLC raised its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 771 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in KLA by 32,828.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,647,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in KLA by 1.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,811,766 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,318,329,000 after acquiring an additional 28,172 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in KLA by 2.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,829,352,000 after purchasing an additional 71,289 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake 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 worth $1,083,684,000 after purchasing an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in KLA by 1.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $959,695,000 after purchasing an additional 21,412 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $620.26 on Tuesday. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $527.11 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock has a market cap of $82.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.32, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $719.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $763.35.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 26.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on KLAC. TD Cowen cut 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $802.90.

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.