Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. Has $4.22 Million Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. raised its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,691 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 92 shares during the quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in KLA by 2.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,630,424,000 after purchasing an additional 145,317 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased 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 buying an additional 3,408,617 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in KLA by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,487,971,000 after buying an additional 93,743 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 286,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in KLA by 1.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $959,695,000 after acquiring an additional 21,412 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Barclays cut their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $806.60.

KLA Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $757.47 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $577.00 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $101.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $654.99 and its 200-day moving average is $726.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during 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 was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 30.37 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

KLA 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.