GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 60 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,758 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,630,424,000 after buying an additional 145,317 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in KLA by 32,828.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,487,971,000 after purchasing an additional 93,743 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in KLA by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,811,766 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,318,329,000 after purchasing an additional 28,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 286,015 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $870.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. 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. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $816.63.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $657.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $87.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company’s 50 day moving average is $649.53 and its 200-day moving average is $734.60. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $542.41 and a 12-month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 30.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. 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 payout ratio is presently 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.