LMR Partners LLP Sells 15,040 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

LMR Partners LLP reduced its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 73.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,364 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 15,040 shares during the quarter. LMR Partners LLP's holdings in KLA were worth $4,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted 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 valued at $2,647,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,408,617 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in KLA by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,811,766 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,318,329,000 after buying an additional 28,172 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in KLA by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,829,352,000 after acquiring an additional 71,289 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of KLA by 25.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 286,015 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of KLA by 1.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $959,695,000 after acquiring an additional 21,412 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of KLA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $802.90.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLA stock traded down $4.60 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $615.66. 1,408,887 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 965,148. The company has a market capitalization of $82.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $527.11 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $719.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $763.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.13 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.74 earnings per share. KLA's revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA's payout ratio is currently 26.48%.

About KLA

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.