KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Position Cut by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 37.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,963 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 6,629 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in KLA were worth $6,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $435,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in KLA by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,812 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,797,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in KLA by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 754 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in KLA by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 28,433 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $16,528,000 after purchasing an additional 4,103 shares during the period. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in KLA by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,544 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $11,361,000 after purchasing an additional 8,721 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $1.79 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $650.00. The company had a trading volume of 365,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 951,486. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $684.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $597.19. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $355.88 and a 12 month high of $729.15. The firm has a market cap of $87.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.92, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.34.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 29.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $696.58.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.