1,197 Shares in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Purchased by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,197 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $754,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. United Bank acquired a new stake in KLA in the third quarter worth $339,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,054,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,483,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $382,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in KLA by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 43,274 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $33,570,000 after purchasing an additional 4,288 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $686.19 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $609.40 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $722.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $701.74.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s payout ratio is 28.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KLAC. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna boosted their price target on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of KLA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $748.00 to $870.00 in a research note on Monday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $832.17.

KLA Company 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.