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

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

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,647,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,408,617 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 76,452.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $234,168,000 after purchasing an additional 301,987 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 25.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,083,684,000 after purchasing an additional 286,015 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 6,188.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $185,397,000 after purchasing an additional 235,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 10,766.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $176,720,000 after purchasing an additional 226,100 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Up 0.8 %

KLAC traded up $5.58 during trading on Monday, reaching $688.64. The stock had a trading volume of 743,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,104,993. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $650.27 and its two-hundred day moving average 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 company has a market capitalization of $92.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a one year low of $552.85 and a one year 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, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. 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 0.99%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Citigroup cut their target price on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $809.10.

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.