Stevens Capital Management LP Sells 2,792 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Stevens Capital Management LP lessened its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 79.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 733 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,792 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in KLA were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $530,630,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of KLA by 6,309.1% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 250,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $145,410,000 after purchasing an additional 246,244 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $132,189,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,449,135,000 after acquiring an additional 190,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $626,431,000 after acquiring an additional 153,752 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $33.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $706.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,192,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 962,386. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $369.00 and a fifty-two week high of $729.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.94, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $684.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $598.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective (up previously from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their target price on KLA from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on KLA in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, April 1st. One investment 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.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $720.42.

KLA 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.