Stevens Capital Management LP Sells 2,792 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Stevens Capital Management LP lowered its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 79.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 733 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,792 shares during the quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in KLA were worth $426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in KLA by 63.0% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,945 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after buying an additional 1,138 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of KLA by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 594 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of KLA by 946.7% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 7,170 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,289,000 after purchasing an additional 6,485 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of KLA by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,092 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 42.4% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 target price (up from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $720.42.

Insider Activity

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

KLA Trading Up 4.9 %

KLAC stock traded up $33.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $706.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,192,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 962,386. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $369.00 and a 52 week high of $729.15. The company has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.94, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average of $684.51 and a 200 day moving average of $598.13. 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 quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s 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.