V Square Quantitative Management LLC Raises Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,547 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of KLA by 16.1% in the 3rd 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 grew its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd 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. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of KLA by 18.2% in the 3rd 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. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 692 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 8,532 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,607,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $831.68.

KLA Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $750.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $695.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $715.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $609.40 and a 52 week high of $896.32.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

KLA Company 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.