Eventide Asset Management LLC Has $44.54 Million Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Eventide Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 57,517 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,258 shares during the quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $44,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in KLA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 538.5% during the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,765,000 after purchasing an additional 6,279 shares during the period. Eastern Bank grew 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 period. ING Groep NV grew 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 period. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in KLA by 39.0% during the third quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,882 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup reduced their price target 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, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $815.55.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC opened at $632.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $701.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $758.08. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $527.11 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The company has a market capitalization of $84.56 billion, a PE ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.29.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.74 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is 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.