Fiera Capital Corp Sells 4,782 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Fiera Capital Corp reduced its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 55.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,903 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,782 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,112,261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,159,832,000 after buying an additional 76,226 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of KLA by 1.0% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,811,766 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,318,329,000 after acquiring an additional 28,172 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,829,352,000 after acquiring an additional 71,289 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of KLA by 25.7% in 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, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of KLA by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $959,695,000 after purchasing an additional 21,412 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays cut their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $802.90.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $687.41 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $731.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $763.72. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $505.50 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The firm has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.74 EPS. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.