Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $106.96 Million Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 169,738 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,651 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of KLA worth $106,955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,630,424,000 after acquiring an additional 145,317 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,647,708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,487,971,000 after acquiring an additional 93,743 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,083,684,000 after acquiring an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 945,835 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $732,464,000 after purchasing an additional 49,470 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $758.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $609.40 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $699.08 and a 200-day moving average of $714.19.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 28.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna boosted their price target on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $831.68.

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.