Oak Ridge Investments LLC Acquires 859 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Oak Ridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,823 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 859 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $9,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth about $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in KLA during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $925.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $806.60.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $757.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a one year low of $577.00 and a one year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $654.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $725.36.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.74 EPS. Analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.37 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

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.