Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 750 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,899 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in KLA during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 163.9% during the 3rd quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 95 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in shares of KLA by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were 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 directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on KLAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $720.42.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock opened at $706.26 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $685.41 and its 200 day moving average is $599.79. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $369.00 and a 52-week high of $729.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.87, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 29.46%.

KLA 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.