KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Position Increased by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,685,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 204,330 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,061,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Keyvantage Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $214,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in KLA by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,161,000 after buying an additional 2,112 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,563,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,326,000 after purchasing an additional 8,028 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $725.00 target price (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $804.67.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $693.72 on Tuesday. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.19 billion, a PE ratio of 29.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $683.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $684.37.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s payout ratio is 28.60%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction 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 approximately $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

About KLA

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.