Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 7,912 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,237 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,912 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in KLA were worth $30,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of KLA by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,059,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Chico Wealth RIA increased its position in shares of KLA by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Chico Wealth RIA now owns 3,870 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after buying an additional 2,870 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 43,484 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,277,000 after buying an additional 14,251 shares during the period. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd increased its position in shares of KLA by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd now owns 15,620 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,080,000 after buying an additional 2,620 shares during the period. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,754,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $628.16 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $84.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s 50 day moving average is $684.19 and its 200 day moving average is $594.71. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $355.88 and a twelve month high of $729.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.38 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.46%.

Insider Activity at KLA

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $688.42.

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.