Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Decreases Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board cut its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 93.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,818 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 156,661 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in KLA were worth $8,920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. 9258 Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $210,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $360,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,705 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $991,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in KLA by 43.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,257,998.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $770.34 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $769.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $756.05. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $440.15 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.72 billion, a PE ratio of 40.35, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.40 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on KLAC. Argus upped their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $950.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $812.80.

About KLA

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.