Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Acquires 2,051 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 342,764 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of KLA worth $199,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in KLA by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,733,533 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,288,651,000 after purchasing an additional 47,838 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,449,135,000 after buying an additional 190,355 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,844,959 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,133,396,000 after buying an additional 268,104 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,074,884 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $759,532,000 after buying an additional 385,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in KLA by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $733,249,000 after purchasing an additional 54,472 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on KLAC shares. New Street Research started coverage on KLA in a report on Monday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $685.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $671.84.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $680.78 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $92.06 billion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $680.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $587.57. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $355.88 and a 52 week high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $7.38 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

KLA 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.