KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Purchased by McGuire Investment Group LLC

McGuire Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 38.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 380 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. McGuire Investment Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. State Street Corp grew its position in KLA by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,630,424,000 after purchasing an additional 145,317 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,487,971,000 after acquiring an additional 93,743 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 1.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $959,695,000 after acquiring an additional 21,412 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $795.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on KLA from $850.00 to $759.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $806.35.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $749.82 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $663.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $723.76. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $581.70 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $100.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm 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 yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.