Bridgewater Associates LP Has $156.03 Million Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 99.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201,482 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100,516 shares during the period. KLA makes up about 0.9% of Bridgewater Associates LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Bridgewater Associates LP owned approximately 0.15% of KLA worth $156,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the second quarter valued at $53,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $815.55.

KLA Trading Down 2.0 %

KLAC opened at $631.47 on Wednesday. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $527.11 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.47 billion, a PE ratio of 28.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $706.36 and its 200 day moving average is $759.85.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.74 EPS. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

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.