South Dakota Investment Council Trims Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 37.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,963 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 6,629 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in KLA were worth $6,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in KLA during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in KLA by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KLAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America lifted their price target on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Raymond James boosted their price target on KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Evercore ISI began coverage on KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $696.58.

KLA Trading Up 0.3 %

KLAC traded up $1.79 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $650.00. 365,897 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 951,486. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $684.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $597.19. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $355.88 and a 1-year high of $729.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $87.90 billion, a PE ratio of 32.92, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.38 EPS. KLA’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 29.46%.

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.