Raiffeisen Bank International AG Makes New $32.18 Million Investment in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 50,783 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,178,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Keyvantage Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,112 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,563,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its stake in KLA by 15.2% during 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 in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total value of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $802.74.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $805.00 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $682.96 and its 200-day moving average is $686.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company has a market capitalization of $106.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $1.90 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 27.63%.

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.