New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Decreases Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lowered its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,380 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. GFG Capital LLC increased its position in KLA by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. GFG Capital LLC now owns 8,806 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,549,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Campbell Wealth Management bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth $213,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $975,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 711 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays boosted 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, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $831.68.

KLA Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $750.74 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $695.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $715.48. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $609.40 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $99.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. On average, equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

KLA Profile

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.