Decatur Capital Management Inc. Grows Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Decatur Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,433 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. KLA accounts for approximately 3.0% of Decatur Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Decatur Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $6,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KLAC. Swedbank AB bought a new position in KLA during the 1st quarter valued at $379,678,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in KLA by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,061,469,000 after acquiring an additional 386,810 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in KLA by 25.7% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,032,017 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $720,936,000 after acquiring an additional 211,227 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in KLA by 2,205.8% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 201,592 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $166,215,000 after acquiring an additional 192,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of KLA by 136.2% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 309,546 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $214,667,000 after purchasing an additional 178,474 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,063,876.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $772.06 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $103.95 billion, a PE ratio of 40.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $440.15 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $769.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $756.05.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $950.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $809.81.

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.