KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stake Decreased by Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 135,595 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,681 shares during the quarter. KLA accounts for approximately 4.8% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. owned 0.10% of KLA worth $78,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. New Street Research assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their target price on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $688.42.

KLA Stock Up 1.7 %

KLAC stock traded up $11.26 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $689.75. 399,925 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 951,706. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $355.88 and a 12 month high of $729.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $681.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $589.12. The company has a market capitalization of $93.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.34. 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 earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors 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 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.46%.

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.