US Bancorp DE Boosts Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,202 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,327 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned 0.05% of KLA worth $42,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KLAC. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $796,000. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 6,935 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,370,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 55,799 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,160,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 423,300 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $266,683,000 after purchasing an additional 90,000 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $831.68.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $708.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $609.40 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $94.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $716.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $714.86.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS 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, research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.60%.

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.