KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Bought by American International Group Inc.

American International Group Inc. increased its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,630 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the quarter. American International Group Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $28,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in KLA by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,480 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $843,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $4,559,000. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,059,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 26,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $15,478,000 after acquiring an additional 1,692 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total value of $803,563.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,726,714.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total transaction of $803,563.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,726,714.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,136 shares of company stock worth $24,016,781 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on KLAC. Bank of America upped their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays upgraded shares of KLA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $630.00 to $765.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $740.15.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock traded down $5.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $824.84. 474,829 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 701,941. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $728.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $661.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $832.99.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.38%.

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.