Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Takes $142,000 Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 220 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 32,828.8% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,419,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,647,708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,408,617 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in KLA by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,083,684,000 after purchasing an additional 286,015 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of KLA by 10,766.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $176,720,000 after purchasing an additional 226,100 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 84.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 441,053 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $277,916,000 after purchasing an additional 201,649 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at approximately $128,482,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $831.68.

KLA Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $724.97 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $609.40 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $711.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $715.70.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

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.