Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp Invests $183,000 in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 290 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $183,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,496,833,000 after purchasing an additional 85,370 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted 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 valued at $4,630,424,000 after buying an additional 145,317 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $2,487,971,000 after buying an additional 93,743 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in KLA by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,394,260 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $953,774,000 after buying an additional 119,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in KLA by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,153,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $726,555,000 after acquiring an additional 64,238 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $705.54 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $93.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.67, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $609.40 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $730.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $703.39.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna increased their price target on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.67.

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.