Empirical Finance LLC Raises Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,781 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 77.3% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in KLA in the third quarter worth $38,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the first quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on KLAC shares. TD Cowen decreased their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group reduced their target price on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $802.90.

KLA Trading Down 3.8 %

KLA stock opened at $620.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $83.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $527.11 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $724.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $764.10.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 26.48%.

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.