Handelsbanken Fonder AB Trims Holdings in KLA Corporation $KLAC

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its position in shares of KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,369 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 601 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in KLA were worth $62,957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 125.0% during the 3rd quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 36 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth $43,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 28.6% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 45 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the third quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC grew its position in KLA by 2,766.7% during the 2nd quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 86 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $1,524.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1,422.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,196.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.83. KLA Corporation has a 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $1,693.35.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.75 by $0.10. KLA had a net margin of 35.76% and a return on equity of 98.18%. The company had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be issued a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 22.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Zacks Research raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on KLA from $1,595.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $1,300.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,350.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of KLA from $1,070.00 to $1,485.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,601.04.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total transaction of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 32,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,774,819.54. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 91.48% of the company’s stock.

About KLA

KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA’s offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.

Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.