Fielder Capital Group LLC Purchases Shares of 383 KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Fielder Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 383 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in KLA by 6.4% during 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 raised its holdings in KLA by 3.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $733,249,000 after buying an additional 54,472 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in KLA by 12.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $626,431,000 after buying an additional 153,752 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in KLA by 10.2% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in KLA by 52.8% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $530,630,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock traded up $21.79 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $718.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 873,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 957,633. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $688.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $610.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $374.49 and a twelve month high of $729.15. The firm has a market cap of $96.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.63, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 23.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on KLAC. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $722.26.

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.