Connable Office Inc. Has $2.63 Million Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Connable Office Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 19.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,166 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,004 shares during the period. Connable Office Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KLAC. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of KLA by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,630,424,000 after acquiring an additional 145,317 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,487,971,000 after acquiring an additional 93,743 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of KLA by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after acquiring an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of KLA by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,153,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $726,555,000 after acquiring an additional 64,238 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $831.68.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $708.84 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $716.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $715.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $609.40 and a twelve month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS 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 forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 28.60%.

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.