KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Ninety One UK Ltd

Ninety One UK Ltd cut its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 81,016 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 7,901 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in KLA were worth $47,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at 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 institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $644.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $684.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $591.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.12 billion, a PE ratio of 32.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.34. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $355.88 and a 1 year high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $688.42.

KLA Company 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.