KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Bought by Zhang Financial LLC

Zhang Financial LLC raised its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 26.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,022 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of KLA by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,733,533 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,288,651,000 after purchasing an additional 47,838 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of KLA by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,449,135,000 after acquiring an additional 190,355 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,844,959 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,133,396,000 after acquiring an additional 268,104 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of KLA by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,074,884 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $759,532,000 after acquiring an additional 385,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of KLA by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $733,249,000 after acquiring an additional 54,472 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $12.70 on Friday, hitting $631.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 323,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 952,810. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $684.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $591.62. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $355.88 and a 12 month high of $729.15. The company has a market capitalization of $85.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 29.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James upped their price objective on KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $688.42.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets 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, Display and Component Inspection.