KLA Corporation $KLAC Shares Acquired by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 69.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 87,547 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,770 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.07% of KLA worth $94,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. L & S Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of KLA by 0.5% during the third quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 4,135 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,461,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC increased its stake in KLA by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,281,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,087 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,251,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT lifted its position in shares of KLA by 6.7% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Capital Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth approximately $242,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. Barclays raised their price objective on KLA from $1,595.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,500.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, January 12th. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on KLA from $1,760.00 to $1,770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, New Street Research increased their price target on KLA from $1,315.00 to $1,460.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,598.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total value of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 32,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,774,819.54. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 91.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

KLA Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $1,469.90 on Friday. KLA Corporation has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $1,693.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.77, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1,391.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,175.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.00.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.75 by $0.10. KLA had a net margin of 35.76% and a return on equity of 98.18%. The firm had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.20 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

About KLA

KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA’s offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.

Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.