Qsemble Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 1,956 KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,956 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,515,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in KLA by 17.2% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 306,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $239,713,000 after buying an additional 44,992 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of KLA by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,114 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 30.1% during the third quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 4,849 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,755,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its holdings in KLA by 0.7% in the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 6,846 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,302,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in KLA by 16.8% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 9,085 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $7,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group reduced their target price on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $815.55.

KLA Stock Up 0.8 %

KLAC stock opened at $644.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $708.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $760.47. 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 twelve month low of $527.11 and a twelve month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.74 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.