Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 820,790 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 122,886 shares during the quarter. KLA accounts for 0.9% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.61% of KLA worth $477,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in KLA by 163.9% during the 3rd quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 95 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were 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 directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of KLA stock traded up $7.67 during trading on Monday, hitting $713.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 899,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 961,630. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $369.66 and a 52 week high of $729.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $685.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $601.50. The company has a market capitalization of $96.54 billion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target (up previously from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $722.26.

KLA Company Profile

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.