Navellier & Associates Inc. Has $1.63 Million Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Navellier & Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,583 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 32,828.8% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after buying an additional 3,408,617 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 76,452.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $234,168,000 after buying an additional 301,987 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in KLA by 25.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after buying an additional 286,015 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in KLA by 10,766.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $176,720,000 after buying an additional 226,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in KLA by 84.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 441,053 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $277,916,000 after buying an additional 201,649 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of KLAC opened at $754.30 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $609.40 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $706.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $715.48.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on KLAC. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.