Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Increases Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 22.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 121,888 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,276 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $85,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Journey Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 518 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in KLA by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its position in KLA by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MWA Asset Management lifted its position in shares of KLA by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 683 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays upgraded KLA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $630.00 to $765.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $747.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total transaction of $5,953,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,399,800. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total value of $5,953,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at $24,399,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,861 shares of company stock worth $16,795,913. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 0.4 %

KLAC stock traded up $2.91 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $830.70. The stock had a trading volume of 92,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 898,628. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $759.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $681.98. The company has a market capitalization of $111.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.36, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $440.15 and a 1-year high of $876.55.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

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.