Bristlecone Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Bristlecone Advisors LLC increased its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,583 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC increased its stake in KLA by 24.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,865,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its position in shares of KLA by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 329 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,143 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $11,727,000 after buying an additional 2,703 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in KLA by 204.2% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,022 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,889,000 after buying an additional 3,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Factory Mutual Insurance Co. boosted its stake in KLA by 11.7% during the third quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 69,052 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $53,475,000 after buying an additional 7,252 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on KLAC. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $831.68.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $747.70 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $687.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $715.46. The company has a market cap of $99.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.28. 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 twelve month low of $608.16 and a twelve month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.