DAVENPORT & Co LLC Has $3.54 Million Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,620 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $239,000. Czech National Bank increased its position in KLA by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 27,383 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,206,000 after acquiring an additional 1,726 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in KLA by 294.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 138 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in KLA by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,698 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its position in KLA by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 4,327 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $740.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $595.86 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $675.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $716.33. The firm has a market cap of $99.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.13, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $1.70 dividend. 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 0.92%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $831.68.

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.