Freedom Investment Management Inc. Acquires 61 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,656 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $1,175,756,000. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 381.3% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 733,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $462,085,000 after purchasing an additional 580,967 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 114,444.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 342,488 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $215,809,000 after buying an additional 342,189 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in KLA by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,455,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $916,926,000 after buying an additional 292,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in KLA by 172.2% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 357,305 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $225,145,000 after acquiring an additional 226,041 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on KLA from $850.00 to $700.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. 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 note on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $814.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

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

KLA Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $634.43 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $695.14 and a 200 day moving average of $690.92. The company has a market capitalization of $84.31 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. 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 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $896.32.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given 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 1.07%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.60%.

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.