New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Trims Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lowered its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,380 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $656,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. GFG Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. GFG Capital LLC now owns 8,806 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,549,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $213,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $975,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 711 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on KLAC. StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Oppenheimer raised shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna lifted their price target on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $831.68.

KLA Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $750.74 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $609.40 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $99.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $695.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $715.48.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. KLA’s payout ratio is 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.