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

LMR Partners LLP lowered its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 73.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 65.9% during the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,289 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Ossiam boosted its stake in KLA by 2,912.3% in the first quarter. Ossiam now owns 103,956 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $72,621,000 after acquiring an additional 100,505 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 3.1% in the first quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in KLA by 246.5% in the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 4,459 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,115,000 after purchasing an additional 3,172 shares during the period. Finally, Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its holdings in KLA by 35.6% in the first quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 667 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $890.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $802.90.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $620.26 on Tuesday. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $527.11 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $82.97 billion, a PE ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $721.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $763.78.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. KLA had a return on equity of 105.16% and a net margin of 28.92%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.74 EPS. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend 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.