Nordea Investment Management AB Cuts Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Nordea Investment Management AB trimmed its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 196,679 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,394 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in KLA were worth $124,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 0.4% in 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 boosted its position 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 valued at $5,765,000 after buying an additional 6,279 shares during the period. Eastern Bank increased its position in shares of KLA by 655.8% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $21,194,000 after acquiring an additional 23,747 shares during the period. ING Groep NV raised its stake in shares of KLA by 52.4% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $61,769,000 after acquiring an additional 27,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in KLA by 14.1% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,112 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on KLAC. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $816.63.

KLA Trading Up 5.1 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $690.30 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $649.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $732.79. KLA Co. has a one year low of $548.84 and a one year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13. The firm has a market cap of $92.33 billion, a PE ratio of 31.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released 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. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for 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. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.