Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Has $2.80 Million Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 16.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,812 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the quarter. KLA makes up 0.5% of Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 52.8% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $530,630,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 6,309.1% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 250,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $145,410,000 after purchasing an additional 246,244 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $132,189,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,449,135,000 after purchasing an additional 190,355 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 12.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $626,431,000 after purchasing an additional 153,752 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $696.58.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $15.54 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $649.18. The company had a trading volume of 375,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 954,753. The company has a fifty day moving average of $683.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $595.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.34. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $355.88 and a 12 month high of $729.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

KLA 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.