Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Cuts Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 613,095 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 8,620 shares during the quarter. KLA accounts for 2.7% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned about 0.46% of KLA worth $386,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in KLA by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,496,833,000 after acquiring an additional 85,370 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of KLA by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,630,424,000 after purchasing an additional 145,317 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,487,971,000 after purchasing an additional 93,743 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $1,175,756,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in KLA by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,455,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $916,926,000 after buying an additional 292,907 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $825.39.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock opened at $673.60 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $609.40 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $727.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $703.11.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

KLA Company Profile

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.