Cullinan Associates Inc. Acquires 1,045 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Cullinan Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Rating) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,395 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $6,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 98.9% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC now owns 7,138 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,160,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $238,000. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $989,000. Veriti Management LLC raised its stake in KLA by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Veriti Management LLC now owns 2,277 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $689,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in KLA by 137.8% during the 3rd quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,159 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 0.6 %

KLAC stock opened at $387.75 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $397.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $364.25. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $250.20 and a fifty-two week high of $429.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.34. The firm has a market cap of $53.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.38.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The semiconductor company reported $7.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.08 by $0.30. KLA had a net margin of 33.77% and a return on equity of 145.21%. The firm had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.59 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 24.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 13th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on KLAC. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of KLA from $335.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of KLA from $318.00 to $422.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $505.00 target price on the stock. KGI Securities cut shares of KLA from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $400.61.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,020 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.47, for a total transaction of $388,079.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,103,535.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

KLA Company Profile

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KLA Corp. engages in the supply of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related nano-electronics industries. The company operates through the following segments: Semiconductor Process Control, Specialty Semiconductor Process, PCB, Display & Component Inspection, and Other.