Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 8,830 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,389 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,830 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of KLA worth $133,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Montecito Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in KLA by 45.5% in the third quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 1,793 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 4.0% in the third quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,461 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,778,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 800 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $527,000. Finally, Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,757 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,135,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 0.2 %

KLAC stock opened at $687.41 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $505.50 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The business’s 50 day moving average is $731.06 and its 200-day moving average is $763.72. The firm has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.29.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.70 per share. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $802.90.

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.