Simon Quick Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 806 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 46 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bedrijfstakpensioenfonds Voor DE Media PNO purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,736,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its holdings in KLA by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 87,672 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $55,244,000 after purchasing an additional 8,369 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,347 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Transform Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Transform Wealth LLC now owns 8,888 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,601,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 1,115 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $703,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $771.91 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $581.70 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.25, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $658.87 and a 200 day moving average of $723.16.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.74 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 30.37 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer raised shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays cut their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $806.35.

KLA 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.