Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Has $154.08 Million Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 265,059 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,404 shares during the quarter. KLA comprises 0.8% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.20% of KLA worth $154,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth about $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth about $26,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $696.58.

KLA Trading Up 2.5 %

KLAC traded up $16.41 during trading on Thursday, hitting $672.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,065,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 959,011. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $355.88 and a twelve month high of $729.15. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $684.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $597.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.95, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.38 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 29.46%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

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

KLA Company Profile

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.