Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Grows Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 62,167 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in KLA were worth $48,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 2,302 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC grew its position in KLA by 10.9% during the second quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 572 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its stake in KLA by 44.5% during the second quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 724 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $597,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,339 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Foguth Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $300,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $648.34 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $86.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.60, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $687.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $754.15. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $530.07 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.74 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup cut their price objective on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group lowered their target price on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $812.30.

About KLA

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.