Hurley Capital LLC Invests $51,000 in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 76 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in KLA by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,496,833,000 after buying an additional 85,370 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,046,472,000 after buying an additional 31,608 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth $1,175,756,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in KLA by 25.2% during the fourth 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. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of KLA by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,394,260 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $953,774,000 after acquiring an additional 119,845 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $576.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $76.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $716.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $699.79. KLA Co. has a one year low of $559.76 and a one year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly 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%. Equities analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on KLAC. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Susquehanna increased their target price on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $725.00 price target (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley upgraded KLA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $748.00 to $870.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $832.17.

Insider Activity at KLA

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