Machina Capital S.A.S. Takes $216,000 Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 343 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in KLA during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in KLA by 82.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in KLA during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $831.68.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC opened at $711.29 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.91, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $722.21 and a 200 day moving average of $710.04. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $609.40 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its 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, sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. 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.