Lbp Am Sa Boosts Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Lbp Am Sa raised its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 113.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,426 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,417 shares during the period. Lbp Am Sa’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in KLA by 381.3% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 733,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $462,085,000 after purchasing an additional 580,967 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in KLA by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 32,388 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $20,409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,011 shares during the last quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC grew its stake in KLA by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC now owns 420 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in KLA by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 128,461 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $82,243,000 after acquiring an additional 6,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its holdings in KLA by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 92,838 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $58,500,000 after acquiring an additional 2,027 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on KLAC. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna raised their price target on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $830.67.

KLA Trading Up 4.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $713.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.75 billion, a PE ratio of 29.98, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $609.40 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $726.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $706.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

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.