KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Position Boosted by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 64.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,809 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 1,103 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KLAC. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of KLA by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 22,566 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,261,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in KLA by 34.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 80,289 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,382,000 after purchasing an additional 20,773 shares during the period. Prudential PLC boosted its position in KLA by 183.1% during the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 4,374 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 2,829 shares during the period. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its position in KLA by 4.4% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 50,684 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $18,553,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in KLA by 4.1% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,436 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,454,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on KLA in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, April 1st. Raymond James upped their price target on KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $685.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $671.84.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $680.78 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $680.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $585.60. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $355.88 and a fifty-two week high of $729.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 22.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 29.46%.

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.