Eastern Bank Sells 834 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Eastern Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,534 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 834 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in KLA were worth $16,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 366 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 384 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,433 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,466 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,459,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in KLA by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 582 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup dropped 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. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $809.10.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $5.58 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $688.64. The company had a trading volume of 743,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,104,993. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $650.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $728.30. 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 $92.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $552.85 and a 52-week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.70 dividend. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

About KLA

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.