KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Purchased by Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,560 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $15,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 27,436 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 4,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in KLA in the third quarter valued at $1,008,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on KLAC shares. UBS Group raised their target price on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $831.68.

KLA Trading Up 2.4 %

KLA stock opened at $715.81 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $609.40 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $720.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $712.45. The firm has a market cap of $95.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 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.