Avanza Fonder AB Takes $8.56 Million Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 13,580 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,557,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in KLA by 82.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 2,038 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KLAC. Needham & Company LLC raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $925.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $806.60.

KLA Trading Up 5.6 %

Shares of KLAC opened at $756.47 on Friday. 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 $552.85 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $101.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $652.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $726.49.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

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.