KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Holdings Lifted by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 19.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,231 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 9,695 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in KLA were worth $49,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in KLA by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,480 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,511,000 after buying an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,559,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $811,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $15,781,000. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth $1,050,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $805.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total transaction of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at $6,063,876.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Down 3.5 %

KLAC stock opened at $702.80 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $796.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $750.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.50. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $440.15 and a 52-week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets 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, Display and Component Inspection.