Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Takes $942,000 Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,217 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $942,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,647,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,408,617 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 76,452.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $234,168,000 after acquiring an additional 301,987 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 6,188.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $185,397,000 after acquiring an additional 235,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 10,766.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $176,720,000 after purchasing an additional 226,100 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Down 0.3 %

KLAC stock opened at $646.60 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $680.06 and a 200 day moving average of $751.66. The firm has a market cap of $86.49 billion, a PE ratio of 29.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $542.41 and a twelve month 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.61 EPS for the current fiscal 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 is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $812.30.

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.