National Pension Service Sells 2,070 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

National Pension Service trimmed its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 294,576 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,070 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in KLA were worth $185,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in KLA by 32,828.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,647,708,000 after buying an additional 3,408,617 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in 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. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in KLA by 10,766.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $176,720,000 after buying an additional 226,100 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in KLA by 84.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 441,053 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $277,916,000 after buying an additional 201,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the third quarter worth about $128,482,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $738.52 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $713.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $715.86. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $609.40 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $98.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.06, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer raised shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $831.68.

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.