Nicholas Investment Partners LP Decreases Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Nicholas Investment Partners LP decreased its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 50.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,283 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,376 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $259,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 253 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $160,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. increased its stake in shares of KLA by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 246 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 755 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 140 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $802.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Stock Up 4.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $795.90 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $105.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $681.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $685.71. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $1.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. This is an increase from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.