Foundry Partners LLC Takes Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 433 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 19.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $991,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of KLA by 40.4% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,129 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 5.7% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 427 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $197,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of KLA by 12.4% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 481 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth approximately $307,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $633.64 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $683.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $595.92. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $355.88 and a 52 week high of $729.15. The stock has a market cap of $85.69 billion, a PE ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.34.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 29.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KLAC. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $688.42.

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.