Analog Century Management LP Grows Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Analog Century Management LP raised its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 29.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,018 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 23,233 shares during the period. KLA makes up approximately 4.3% of Analog Century Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Analog Century Management LP owned about 0.08% of KLA worth $64,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD boosted its position in shares of KLA by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 65 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $825.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays decreased their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $804.67.

KLA Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of KLAC opened at $657.11 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $688.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $687.99. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.60%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.