Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 76.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 633 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 275 shares during the quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in 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 worth $2,647,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,408,617 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in KLA by 25.7% during 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 last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in KLA by 10,766.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $176,720,000 after purchasing an additional 226,100 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in KLA by 84.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 441,053 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $277,916,000 after purchasing an additional 201,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $128,482,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC opened at $724.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $711.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $715.70. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $609.40 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $96.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. KLA’s payout ratio is 28.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.