Columbus Macro LLC Has $3.59 Million Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Columbus Macro LLC boosted its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 479.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,689 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,708 shares during the quarter. Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in shares of KLA by 82.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in KLA in the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $740.21 on Tuesday. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $595.86 and a 1 year high of $896.32. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $99.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.13, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $675.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $716.33.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. As a group, analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.8 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on KLAC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.