Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,348,189 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 51,178 shares during the quarter. KLA accounts for approximately 1.1% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 1.01% of KLA worth $849,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB increased its position in KLA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,660,000 after buying an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 538.5% in the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,765,000 after acquiring an additional 6,279 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in KLA by 655.8% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,194,000 after purchasing an additional 23,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in KLA by 52.4% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $61,769,000 after purchasing an additional 27,436 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $750.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $609.40 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The firm has a market cap of $99.74 billion, a PE ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $690.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $714.89.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. Analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $831.68.

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.