Howe & Rusling Inc. Reduces Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Howe & Rusling Inc. cut its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,748 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 17 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $5,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $277,000. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in KLA by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 6,828 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,288,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. MWA Asset Management lifted its position in shares of KLA by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $820,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in KLA in the third quarter worth about $58,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on KLAC. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays reduced their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $802.90.

KLA Stock Down 0.7 %

KLAC opened at $615.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $717.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $762.78. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $527.11 and a twelve month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.74 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

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.