Sava Infond d.o.o. Purchases New Shares in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Sava Infond d.o.o. acquired a new position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 990 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $624,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,496,833,000 after purchasing an additional 85,370 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,630,424,000 after buying an additional 145,317 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,487,971,000 after buying an additional 93,743 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in shares of KLA by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,394,260 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $953,774,000 after acquiring an additional 119,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in KLA by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,153,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $726,555,000 after acquiring an additional 64,238 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 0.8 %

KLAC stock opened at $700.00 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $609.40 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $729.51 and its 200 day moving average is $703.36. The company has a market capitalization of $93.02 billion, a PE ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. On average, research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 28.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KLAC. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.67.

About KLA

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.