Natixis Investment Managers International Lowers Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Natixis Investment Managers International reduced its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 10.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 198 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 22 shares during the quarter. Natixis Investment Managers International’s holdings in KLA were worth $138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 77.3% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in KLA by 2,033.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $950.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $980.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $802.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the firm’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 value of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of KLA stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total transaction of $5,953,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,399,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,905 shares of company stock valued at $16,831,966 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $7.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $762.81. 1,822,552 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 906,318. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market cap of $102.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $808.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $714.17. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $440.15 and a 1 year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.40 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.3 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given 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 0.76%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.