Barclays PLC Has $655.92 Million Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Barclays PLC cut its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 14.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 846,997 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 141,743 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.63% of KLA worth $655,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in shares of KLA by 82.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $648.34 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $86.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $530.07 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $687.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $754.15.

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. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group decreased their price target on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on KLA from $870.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $812.30.

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.