E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. reduced its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,710 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 204 shares during the period. KLA makes up about 1.7% of E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in KLA were worth $31,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter worth $379,678,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $580,008,000 after buying an additional 301,848 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,032,017 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $720,936,000 after buying an additional 211,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 136.2% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 309,546 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $214,667,000 after buying an additional 178,474 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $950.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $812.80.

KLA Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $739.60 on Wednesday. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $440.15 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $779.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $754.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

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.