Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Buys 57 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 9.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 670 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 57 shares during the quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in KLA were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,112,261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,159,832,000 after buying an additional 76,226 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,811,766 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,318,329,000 after buying an additional 28,172 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,829,352,000 after buying an additional 71,289 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 25.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,083,684,000 after buying an additional 286,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $959,695,000 after buying an additional 21,412 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $666.03 on Tuesday. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $524.03 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $731.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $765.29. The stock has a market cap of $89.09 billion, a PE ratio of 30.41, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 31.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $802.90.

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.