Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 85,370 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,370 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.15% of KLA worth $8,496,833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in KLA by 2.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,630,424,000 after acquiring an additional 145,317 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,487,971,000 after buying an additional 93,743 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,394,260 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $953,774,000 after buying an additional 119,845 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,153,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $726,555,000 after buying an additional 64,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 945,835 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $732,464,000 after buying an additional 49,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.67.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $706.49 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $609.40 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.71, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $729.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $703.53.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 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.