Jackson Square Capital LLC Reduces Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Jackson Square Capital LLC decreased its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 60.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,351 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 5,132 shares during the quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $2,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in 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 worth $2,647,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,408,617 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 76,452.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 302,382 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $234,168,000 after buying an additional 301,987 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in KLA by 25.7% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,399,367 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,083,684,000 after buying an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in KLA by 6,188.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 239,404 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $185,397,000 after buying an additional 235,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in KLA by 10,766.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 228,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $176,720,000 after buying an additional 226,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Oppenheimer raised KLA from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays cut their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $700.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of KLA from $746.00 to $703.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $806.60.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $10.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $757.47. 1,402,515 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 925,800. The company's 50 day moving average is $654.99 and its 200 day moving average is $724.46. KLA Co. has a one year low of $577.00 and a one year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The business's revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 30.37 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. KLA's payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

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.