Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Raises Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,023 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 52.8% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $530,630,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in KLA by 6,309.1% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 250,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $145,410,000 after purchasing an additional 246,244 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $132,189,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of KLA by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,449,135,000 after acquiring an additional 190,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of KLA by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $626,431,000 after acquiring an additional 153,752 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at KLA

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on KLA in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $722.26.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock traded down $18.55 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $695.38. The company had a trading volume of 215,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 952,789. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $686.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $603.00. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $369.66 and a 52-week high of $729.15. The stock has a market cap of $94.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.40, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

About KLA

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.