NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Sells 700 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan reduced its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. KLA accounts for 0.6% of NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB increased its position in KLA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its position in KLA by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV increased its position in KLA by 52.4% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $61,769,000 after acquiring an additional 27,436 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in KLA by 14.1% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in KLA during the third quarter valued at $1,008,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $831.68.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $691.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $717.73 and a 200 day moving average of $713.28. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $609.40 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The firm has a market cap of $91.84 billion, a PE ratio of 29.06, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced 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 return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. KLA’s payout ratio is 28.60%.

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.