Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Trims Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,246 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 522 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in KLA were worth $4,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $426,660,000 after buying an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in KLA by 14.1% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 33,215 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $25,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,112 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in KLA by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $6,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares during the period. Finally, Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,563,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KLAC. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna increased their price target on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $830.67.

KLA Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of KLAC traded up $21.24 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $727.73. 730,158 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 953,905. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $609.40 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $96.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.60, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $729.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $703.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA's dividend 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.