Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Acquires 2,620 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd lifted its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,620 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 2,620 shares during the period. KLA comprises 1.4% of Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s holdings in KLA were worth $9,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in KLA by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 22,566 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,261,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in KLA by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 80,289 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,382,000 after purchasing an additional 20,773 shares during the period. Prudential PLC increased its stake in KLA by 183.1% in the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 4,374 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 2,829 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in KLA by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 924 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its stake in KLA by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 50,684 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $18,553,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KLAC. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $688.42.

KLA Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded down $12.54 during trading on Thursday, reaching $646.44. The company had a trading volume of 408,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 954,605. The business’s 50-day moving average is $684.11 and its 200 day moving average is $591.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $355.88 and a 12-month high of $729.15. The stock has a market cap of $87.42 billion, a PE ratio of 33.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 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 the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction 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 $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related 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 transaction 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 $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.