Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Buys 484 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,229 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 484 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec’s holdings in KLA were worth $17,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 366 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its stake in KLA by 0.4% during the second quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 3,249 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,679,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 2.7% during the second quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 567 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in KLA by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greystone Financial Group LLC increased its stake in KLA by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $980,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $647.03 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $527.11 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $699.34 and a 200 day moving average of $757.79. The firm has a market cap of $86.55 billion, a PE ratio of 29.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on KLAC shares. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $815.55.

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.