Gold Investment Management Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Gold Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 580 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in KLA were worth $452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,112,261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,159,832,000 after buying an additional 76,226 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in KLA by 1.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,811,766 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,318,329,000 after acquiring an additional 28,172 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of KLA by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,829,352,000 after purchasing an additional 71,289 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of KLA by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,083,684,000 after buying an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in KLA by 1.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $959,695,000 after purchasing an additional 21,412 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of KLA stock traded up $2.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $688.34. 145,210 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 947,042. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $505.50 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $735.90 and a 200-day moving average of $763.89.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 26.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on KLAC. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen reduced their target price 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $802.90.

KLA Company 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.