KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Bought by Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC

Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,935 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KLAC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in KLA by 32,828.8% during 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 buying an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $234,168,000 after acquiring an additional 301,987 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted 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 worth $1,083,684,000 after acquiring an additional 286,015 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in KLA by 6,188.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 235,597 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in KLA by 10,766.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $176,720,000 after purchasing an additional 226,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KLAC. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their target price on KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $806.35.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $760.95 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $661.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $723.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.75, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $581.70 and a 52 week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.34 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

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.