Caprock Group LLC Decreases Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Caprock Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,360 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 383 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 538.5% in the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,765,000 after purchasing an additional 6,279 shares during the period. Eastern Bank increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 655.8% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $21,194,000 after purchasing an additional 23,747 shares during the period. ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 52.4% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 79,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $61,769,000 after purchasing an additional 27,436 shares during the period. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 39.0% during the third quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,882 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $802.90.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $620.26 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $721.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $763.78. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $527.11 and a 1 year high of $896.32. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $82.97 billion, a PE ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 1.10%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 26.48%.

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.