Fiduciary Trust Co Has $28.52 Million Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Fiduciary Trust Co cut its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,257 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 298 shares during the period. Fiduciary Trust Co’s holdings in KLA were worth $28,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD lifted its holdings in KLA by 160.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 65 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on KLAC. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on KLA from $870.00 to $868.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $802.74.

KLA Stock Up 1.1 %

KLA stock opened at $702.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $93.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.53, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $678.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $683.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $1.90 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 24.72%.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total value of $7,381,006.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.