Essential Planning LLC. Invests $4.80 Million in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Essential Planning LLC. acquired a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,085 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,799,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 52.4% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $61,769,000 after purchasing an additional 27,436 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 14.1% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth $1,008,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $664.22 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. The firm has a market cap of $88.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $609.40 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $723.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $708.11.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $831.68.

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.