Nilsine Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Nilsine Partners LLC increased its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,268 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in KLA by 32,828.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,647,708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,408,617 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in KLA by 76,452.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $234,168,000 after purchasing an additional 301,987 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in KLA by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after buying an additional 286,015 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in KLA by 6,188.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $185,397,000 after buying an additional 235,597 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in KLA by 10,766.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $176,720,000 after acquiring an additional 226,100 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $702.71 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $666.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $720.69. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $581.70 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.34 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.70 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on KLAC. Barclays lowered their target price on KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $812.47.

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.