KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Holdings Lifted by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,781 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 84 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the 1st 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 boosted its holdings in KLA by 1.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 28,172 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,829,352,000 after acquiring an additional 71,289 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 25.7% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after buying an additional 286,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $802.90.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $620.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $527.11 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $724.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $764.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.45, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s payout ratio is 26.48%.

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.