Novem Group Buys New Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Novem Group purchased a new position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 1,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,205,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $799.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

KLA Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of KLAC opened at $790.29 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $692.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $689.75. The company has a market cap of $104.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.26 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.63%.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.