GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires New Shares in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 733 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $435,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in KLA by 6.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,449,135,000 after acquiring an additional 190,355 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of KLA by 3.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $733,249,000 after buying an additional 54,472 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 12.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $626,431,000 after buying an additional 153,752 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in KLA by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,267,811 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $581,496,000 after buying an additional 117,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $530,630,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $4.67 on Wednesday, reaching $652.88. The stock had a trading volume of 280,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 950,480. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $684.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $597.19. The company has a market cap of $88.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $355.88 and a 1-year high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The company’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were given 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 dividend yield of 0.89%. KLA’s payout ratio is 29.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Barclays boosted their target price on KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on KLA from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $696.58.

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.