KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Purchased by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,266 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 9,238 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.06% of KLA worth $46,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,660,000 after buying an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. United Bank purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth about $339,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 95.2% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 1,767 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $16,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.67.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $716.46 on Friday. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $729.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $704.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $95.21 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. Sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. KLA’s payout ratio is 28.60%.

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.