D. Scott Neal Inc. cut its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC – Free Report) by 21.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,900 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,444 shares during the period. KLA comprises about 5.9% of D. Scott Neal Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. D. Scott Neal Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $9,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $1,048,728,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $530,630,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,061,469,000 after purchasing an additional 386,810 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in KLA by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $580,008,000 after purchasing an additional 301,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its position in KLA by 6,309.1% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 250,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $145,410,000 after buying an additional 246,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity at KLA
In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total value of $803,563.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total value of $803,563.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,136 shares of company stock valued at $24,016,781 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $747.40.
KLA Stock Down 1.6 %
NASDAQ KLAC traded down $13.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $816.55. 1,995,401 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 688,002. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $440.15 and a 1-year high of $876.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $744.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $672.84. The company has a market cap of $109.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.28.
KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.49 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.3 EPS for the current year.
KLA Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.