Blueshift Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 19.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,279 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in KLA by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,630,424,000 after acquiring an additional 145,317 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,487,971,000 after purchasing an additional 93,743 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,394,260 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $953,774,000 after purchasing an additional 119,845 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,153,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $726,555,000 after purchasing an additional 64,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.5% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 945,835 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $732,464,000 after purchasing an additional 49,470 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of several research reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.67.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $719.61 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $95.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $728.45 and its 200 day moving average is $704.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $609.40 and a 52-week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

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.