KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP

Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP trimmed its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 21.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 957 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP’s holdings in KLA were worth $603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth $838,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $504,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in KLA by 84.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 441,053 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $277,916,000 after buying an additional 201,649 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,724 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,237,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $802.74.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $805.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $682.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $686.53. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. The firm’s revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 27.63%.

About KLA

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.