Martingale Asset Management L P Sells 11,256 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Martingale Asset Management L P cut its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 72.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,384 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 11,256 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 76,452.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $234,168,000 after acquiring an additional 301,987 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of KLA by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after acquiring an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in KLA by 6,188.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $185,397,000 after purchasing an additional 235,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in KLA by 2,205.8% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 201,592 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $166,215,000 after purchasing an additional 192,849 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on KLAC. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays reduced their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $815.55.

KLA Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $647.03 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $699.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $757.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $527.11 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.54, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.29.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results 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 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

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.