Public Sector Pension Investment Board Boosts Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 140,453 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,700 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in KLA were worth $108,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at $38,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the second quarter worth about $44,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the first quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $632.14 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $704.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $758.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock has a market cap of $84.56 billion, a PE ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $527.11 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32.

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

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $815.55.

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.