Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Has $19.53 Million Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lessened its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,954 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 112 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in KLA were worth $19,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $5,341,000. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,792 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,739,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $16,446,000. USA Financial Formulas lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 34,100.0% in the 3rd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 684 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in KLA by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 229,019 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $105,042,000 after acquiring an additional 19,167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $10,039,269.67. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at $66,748,351.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $24,726,714.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC stock traded down $39.40 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $852.95. 875,032 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 886,393. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $440.15 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $788.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $696.89. The company has a market cap of $114.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.49 earnings per share. KLA’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $820.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $747.40.

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.