Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Acquires 878 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,765 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 878 shares during the quarter. KLA accounts for about 0.5% of Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KLAC. State Street Corp increased its holdings in KLA by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,630,424,000 after buying an additional 145,317 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 3.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 93,743 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,083,684,000 after purchasing an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in KLA by 1.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $959,695,000 after purchasing an additional 21,412 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $749.82 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $581.70 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $663.74 and its 200 day moving average is $723.76. The stock has a market cap of $100.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 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 firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on KLAC. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $806.35.

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.