Versor Investments LP Decreases Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Versor Investments LP lessened its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,112 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 189 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in KLA were worth $701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Swedbank AB boosted its position in KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after buying an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 597 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 2,287 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,771,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $246,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 819 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $831.68.

KLA Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $708.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $94.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $716.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $715.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date 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.