Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Purchases 1,736 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 46.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,492 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 1,736 shares during the quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Renaissance Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Group LLC now owns 54,143 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $34,117,000 after buying an additional 7,770 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 315.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 232,309 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $146,383,000 after purchasing an additional 176,400 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 340.7% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 67,978 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $42,834,000 after acquiring an additional 52,554 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,404,395 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $884,937,000 after purchasing an additional 23,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in KLA by 83.0% during the 4th quarter. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,019 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,423,000 after buying an additional 3,183 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $604.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $714.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $698.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.35 billion, a PE ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36.

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 the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 raised their price target for the company from $748.00 to $870.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $832.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.