Board of the Pension Protection Fund Acquires Shares of 800 KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 800 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 82.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC stock opened at $701.26 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $651.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $726.56. The firm has a market cap of $93.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $552.85 and a 1 year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business earned $5.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. KLA’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Susquehanna cut their target price on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $809.10.

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.