KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Holdings Decreased by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 25.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,527 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 15,995 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $32,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 77.3% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of KLA by 2,033.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $980.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $806.24.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $24.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $787.39. 1,047,694 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 842,597. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $809.47 and a 200 day moving average of $716.85. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total transaction of $5,953,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,399,800. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total value of $5,953,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at $24,399,800. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,905 shares of company stock valued at $16,831,966 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.