KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stake Boosted by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,056 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 132 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $722.26.

KLA Stock Up 2.1 %

KLA stock opened at $696.59 on Friday. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $369.66 and a fifty-two week high of $729.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.79 billion, a PE ratio of 36.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50-day moving average is $687.46 and its 200-day moving average is $605.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were 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 directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.