Point72 Europe London LLP Purchases 9,700 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Point72 Europe London LLP lifted its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 118.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,900 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,700 shares during the quarter. KLA makes up 0.9% of Point72 Europe London LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Point72 Europe London LLP’s holdings in KLA were worth $13,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in KLA by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 22,229 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $17,214,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 4.8% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 32,002 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $24,783,000 after purchasing an additional 1,463 shares in the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 5.5% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 945,835 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $732,464,000 after purchasing an additional 49,470 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of KLA by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 9,252 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $7,239,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in KLA by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 140,453 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $108,768,000 after purchasing an additional 15,700 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $647.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.13. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $527.11 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a market capitalization of $86.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.54, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $699.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $757.61.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.03 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.75 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 105.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.74 EPS. Analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 30.91 earnings per share 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 issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.45. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $725.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $815.55.

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.