Blair William & Co. IL Grows Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in KLA were worth $19,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $1,563,000. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in KLA by 60.4% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,705 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its position in KLA by 15.2% during the fourth 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KLAC. Barclays boosted their target price on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $725.00 target price (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $825.39.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $673.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $89.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $727.83 and its 200 day moving average is $703.11. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $609.40 and a 1-year high of $896.32.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.60%.

Insider Activity at KLA

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

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.