Howard Capital Management Inc. Boosts Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,132 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,771 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $9,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of KLA by 2.5% during 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 boosted its position 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 valued at $2,647,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,408,617 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,487,971,000 after purchasing an additional 93,743 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $1,083,684,000 after purchasing an additional 286,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 5.5% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 945,835 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $732,464,000 after purchasing an additional 49,470 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Stock Down 3.0 %

KLA stock opened at $754.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $100.24 billion, a PE ratio of 31.72, 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 Co. has a one year low of $609.40 and a one year high of $896.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $708.55 and a 200 day moving average of $715.83.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. KLA’s payout ratio is 28.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their target price on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $831.68.

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.