Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $4.24 Million Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,299 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 52 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,733,533 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,288,651,000 after buying an additional 47,838 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in KLA by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,449,135,000 after purchasing an additional 190,355 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,844,959 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,133,396,000 after purchasing an additional 268,104 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in KLA by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,074,884 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $759,532,000 after purchasing an additional 385,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in KLA by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $733,249,000 after purchasing an additional 54,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of KLAC opened at $628.16 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $355.88 and a 52 week high of $729.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $684.19 and a 200-day moving average of $592.79.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $688.42.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA 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.