Plato Investment Management Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,462 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 77.3% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of KLA during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 3.0 %

KLAC stock opened at $644.55 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $527.11 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $726.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $764.95. The firm has a market cap of $86.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.43, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.29.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $5.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 26.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Susquehanna reduced their price target on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen cut 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. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $802.90.

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.