New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 115,715 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,289 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in KLA were worth $72,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in KLA by 16.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 39,771 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,796,000 after buying an additional 5,519 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in KLA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,660,000 after buying an additional 2,019 shares during the period. BOS Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 27.0% in the third quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC now owns 1,209 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $936,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in KLA in the third quarter worth about $716,000. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in KLA by 18.2% in the third quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 292 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on KLAC. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $831.68.

KLA Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $764.28 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $609.40 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $101.57 billion, a PE ratio of 32.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $692.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $715.14.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. Research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio 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.