National Bank of Canada FI Has $86.35 Million Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 77.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 154,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,361 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.11% of KLA worth $86,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, 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 transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group upped their target price on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective (up previously from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $722.26.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC stock traded up $14.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $696.59. 820,130 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 889,883. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $688.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $608.56. The company has a market capitalization of $93.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 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 data 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 company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.49 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 23.24 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

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.