Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda Reduces Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda decreased its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 51.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 757 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 799 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda’s holdings in KLA were worth $440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,048,728,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 52.8% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $530,630,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,061,469,000 after purchasing an additional 386,810 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $580,008,000 after purchasing an additional 301,848 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 6,309.1% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 250,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $145,410,000 after purchasing an additional 246,244 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 1.7 %

KLA stock opened at $863.31 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $735.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $666.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. The company has a market cap of $116.24 billion, a PE ratio of 45.22, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $440.15 and a fifty-two week high of $876.55.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.49 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 23.3 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total transaction of $803,563.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total transaction of $803,563.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,136 shares of company stock worth $24,016,781. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup upped their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen upped their target price on KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $747.40.

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.