Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 554,875 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,049,761 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 554,875 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.54% of KLA worth $1,291,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in KLA by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,496,833,000 after purchasing an additional 85,370 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,630,424,000 after buying an additional 145,317 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,046,472,000 after acquiring an additional 31,608 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,175,756,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 292,907 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC stock opened at $682.46 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $724.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $701.85. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $609.40 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KLAC. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $725.00 price objective (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of KLA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $748.00 to $870.00 in a report on Monday. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $832.17.

KLA 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.