Czech National Bank Increases Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,002 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in KLA were worth $18,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 82.3% in the 3rd 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 position in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 1.2 %

KLAC stock opened at $690.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $650.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $727.43. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $552.85 and a fifty-two 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 firm has a market cap of $92.43 billion, a PE ratio of 31.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.74 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $750.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $809.10.

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.