Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 40,469 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 8,110 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in KLA were worth $23,572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,449,135,000 after purchasing an additional 190,355 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in KLA by 3.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $733,249,000 after buying an additional 54,472 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in KLA by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $626,431,000 after acquiring an additional 153,752 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,267,811 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $581,496,000 after acquiring an additional 117,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $530,630,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

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

KLA Stock Down 3.4 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $666.04 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $369.66 and a 1 year high of $729.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.68 billion, a PE ratio of 34.89, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The business’s 50-day moving average is $687.50 and its 200 day moving average is $604.86.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.24 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target (up previously from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $722.26.

About KLA

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.