KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 52,231 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 10,667 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in KLA were worth $40,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 761 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of KLA by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 1,232 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 38.9% during the 2nd quarter. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. now owns 436 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 548,930 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $452,598,000 after acquiring an additional 5,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Lake Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $812.30.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $641.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $684.86 and a 200-day moving average of $753.35. The stock has a market cap of $85.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $542.41 and a 52 week high of $896.32. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.74 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

KLA 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.