Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 433 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,509 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 65.9% during the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Ossiam lifted its position in shares of KLA by 2,912.3% during the 1st quarter. Ossiam now owns 103,956 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $72,621,000 after buying an additional 100,505 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 3.1% in the first quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $873,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. grew its position in KLA by 246.5% in the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 4,459 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,115,000 after acquiring an additional 3,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its stake in KLA by 35.6% during the first quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 667 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $466,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on KLAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $925.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Argus increased their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $802.90.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $620.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $527.11 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The company’s 50-day moving average is $719.23 and its 200 day moving average is $763.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 26.48%.

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.