River Global Investors LLP Decreases Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

River Global Investors LLP reduced its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,863 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 947 shares during the quarter. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 15.4% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 30,558 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,016,000 after purchasing an additional 4,089 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of KLA by 5.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 132,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $60,828,000 after purchasing an additional 7,271 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of KLA by 3.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 31,568 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,479,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in shares of KLA by 6.8% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,952 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,272,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in shares of KLA by 16.7% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Stock Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $14.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $696.59. 820,130 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 889,883. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $369.66 and a 52-week high of $729.15. The firm has a market cap of $93.79 billion, a PE ratio of 36.49, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $687.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. KLA’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 23.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.38%.

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 transaction 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 approximately $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction 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 approximately $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was 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 owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.