Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 7.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,035 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $802,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in KLA by 77.3% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Down 3.1 %

KLA stock opened at $666.03 on Tuesday. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $524.03 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $731.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $765.29.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted 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 business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average 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.