KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by PGGM Investments

PGGM Investments decreased its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,117 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,189 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in KLA were worth $18,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of KLA by 6.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,449,135,000 after purchasing an additional 190,355 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of KLA by 3.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $733,249,000 after purchasing an additional 54,472 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 12.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $626,431,000 after purchasing an additional 153,752 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of KLA by 10.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,267,811 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $581,496,000 after purchasing an additional 117,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $530,630,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 4.9 %

NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $33.31 on Friday, hitting $706.26. 1,193,523 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 821,545. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $369.00 and a 1 year high of $729.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $685.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $599.79. The company has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a PE ratio of 37.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 103.31% and a net margin of 27.19%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related 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 directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related 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 directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price target (up from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $720.42.

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.