SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Invests $856,000 in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,358 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $856,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 16.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 819 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 352.0% during the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $875,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the period. Optas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter valued at about $248,000. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $116,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KLAC. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $831.68.

KLA Trading Down 2.5 %

KLAC opened at $691.15 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. KLA Co. has a one year low of $609.40 and a one year high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $91.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.06, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $717.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $713.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.