KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Fmr LLC

Fmr LLC lowered its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,133,865 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 250,552 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned approximately 1.61% of KLA worth $1,344,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,019 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,423,000 after buying an additional 3,183 shares during the last quarter. 2Xideas AG increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 74.5% in the 4th quarter. 2Xideas AG now owns 16,238 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,232,000 after acquiring an additional 6,932 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of KLA by 344.5% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 32,051 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $20,196,000 after acquiring an additional 24,840 shares in the last quarter. Himension Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. lifted its stake in KLA by 1,717.2% during the fourth quarter. Himension Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. now owns 22,533 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,198,000 after purchasing an additional 21,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nutshell Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,710,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Down 7.1 %

KLAC opened at $576.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $546.54 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $716.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $699.57.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of KLA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $748.00 to $870.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $725.00 price objective (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $832.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by 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.