Quest Partners LLC Acquires 368 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 39.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $2,647,708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in KLA by 1.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,811,766 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,318,329,000 after buying an additional 28,172 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in KLA by 2.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,829,352,000 after buying an additional 71,289 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 286,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in KLA by 1.9% in 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 buying an additional 21,412 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $616.83 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $527.11 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13. The company has a market capitalization of $82.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $717.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $762.78.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued 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 net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is an increase 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on KLAC. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $802.90.

KLA Company 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.