Zacks Investment Management Invests $554,000 in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Zacks Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 715 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $554,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of KLA during the second quarter worth $30,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth $38,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $641.87 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $684.86 and a 200-day moving average of $753.35. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $542.41 and a 1-year high of $896.32. 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 company has a market cap of $85.86 billion, a PE ratio of 29.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KLAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $870.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $812.30.

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.