Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Has $457,000 Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 26.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 726 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $457,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in shares of KLA by 82.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in KLA in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in KLA during the third quarter worth about $56,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $757.47 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. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $577.00 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $654.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $725.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.74 EPS. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. Needham & Company LLC raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, 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 research note on Friday, January 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $806.60.

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.