State of Michigan Retirement System Has $27.64 Million Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

State of Michigan Retirement System lowered its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,568 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in KLA were worth $27,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 2,033.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KLA Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $839.11 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $767.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $685.50. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $876.55. The company has a market capitalization of $112.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.96, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. KLA’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Nine 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $747.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,748,351.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,861 shares of company stock worth $16,795,913 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.