Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC – Free Report) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 803 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Skye Global Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,434,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $479,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 497,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $313,172,000 after acquiring an additional 8,015 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,178,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 207,333 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $130,645,000 after acquiring an additional 28,882 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages recently weighed in on KLAC. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $830.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities raised their price target on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $802.74.
KLA Stock Up 0.1%
KLAC stock opened at $806.00 on Friday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $685.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $687.44. The company has a market cap of $106.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40.
KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The business’s revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
KLA Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.63%.
KLA declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Activity at KLA
In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction 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 approximately $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.
KLA 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.
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