Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 71,240 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,128 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in KLA were worth $55,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at $38,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in KLA in the second quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on KLA from $870.00 to $800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna dropped their target price on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $812.30.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $12.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $658.90. 85,605 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 972,981. The firm has a market cap of $88.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $542.41 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $680.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $751.66.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) 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 company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 30.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

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.