KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Values First Advisors Inc.

Values First Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 24.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 684 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 218 shares during the quarter. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $397,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KLAC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $572,224,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 52.8% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $530,630,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of KLA by 22.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,074,884 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $759,532,000 after buying an additional 385,420 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 10.4% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,844,959 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,133,396,000 after buying an additional 268,104 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of KLA by 6,309.1% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 250,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $145,410,000 after buying an additional 246,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on KLAC shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Susquehanna lowered shares of KLA from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $640.00 to $675.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $641.05.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $1.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $698.57. 1,080,899 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 986,964. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $660.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $567.36. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $355.88 and a 1-year high of $729.15. The firm has a market cap of $94.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.46%.

About KLA

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets 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, Display and Component Inspection.