Passumpsic Savings Bank Boosts Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Passumpsic Savings Bank lifted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,267 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Passumpsic Savings Bank’s holdings in KLA were worth $981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of KLA by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 17,724 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,726,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA increased its stake in KLA by 103.5% in the 3rd quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 2,196 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,701,000 after buying an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC increased its stake in KLA by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 332 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Chiron Investment Management LLC increased its stake in KLA by 120.5% in the 3rd quarter. Chiron Investment Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in KLA by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,722 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,081,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on KLAC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $870.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $812.30.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $648.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $684.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $753.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.80 billion, a PE ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28. 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 52-week low of $542.41 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 the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.74 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date 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.