California Public Employees Retirement System Decreases Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 288,592 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 16,555 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in KLA were worth $181,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,496,833,000 after acquiring an additional 85,370 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of KLA by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,630,424,000 after purchasing an additional 145,317 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in KLA by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,487,971,000 after purchasing an additional 93,743 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $1,175,756,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in KLA by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,455,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $916,926,000 after purchasing an additional 292,907 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their target price on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $825.39.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $673.60 on Monday. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $727.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $702.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.