NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Cuts Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan cut its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. KLA accounts for approximately 0.8% of NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan's holdings in KLA were worth $6,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its position in KLA by 77.3% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer upgraded KLA from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $750.00 to $850.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded KLA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $802.90.

KLA Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded down $21.38 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $666.03. 1,167,733 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 953,396. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $524.03 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $731.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $765.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company has a market cap of $89.09 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.29.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.03 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. KLA's payout ratio is presently 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.