KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd trimmed its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 190,835 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,346 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in KLA were worth $120,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,408,617 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 76,452.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $234,168,000 after purchasing an additional 301,987 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 286,015 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 6,188.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $185,397,000 after purchasing an additional 235,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 10,766.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $176,720,000 after purchasing an additional 226,100 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $750.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $99.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $609.40 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The business’s 50 day moving average is $695.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $715.48.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer upgraded 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen lowered their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $831.68.

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.