MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 1,070 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 41,095 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,070 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $31,824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the 2nd 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. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in KLA by 25.7% during 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. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in KLA by 1.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $959,695,000 after acquiring an additional 21,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in KLA by 1.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 826,954 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $640,401,000 after purchasing an additional 13,038 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. UBS Group cut their target price on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup cut their target price on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $815.55.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $631.47 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $706.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $759.85. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $527.11 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $84.47 billion, a PE ratio of 28.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 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 (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

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.