KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by River Global Investors LLP

River Global Investors LLP lessened its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,863 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 947 shares during the period. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth $26,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 163.9% in the third quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 95 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $722.26.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC stock traded up $14.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $696.59. 820,130 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 889,883. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $687.46 and its 200-day moving average is $605.39. The stock has a market cap of $93.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.33. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $369.66 and a 52 week high of $729.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.49 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.24 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.