Fred Alger Management LLC Has $19.74 Million Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Fred Alger Management LLC cut its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,331 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 671 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $19,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 413 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 502,166 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $316,425,000 after acquiring an additional 37,194 shares in the last quarter. EHP Funds Inc. raised its stake in KLA by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. EHP Funds Inc. now owns 800 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth $1,284,000. Finally, Crestline Management LP raised its stake in KLA by 376.1% during the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 33,195 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $20,917,000 after acquiring an additional 26,223 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $802.74.

KLA Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $702.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $678.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $683.85.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.26 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.72%.

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.