KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Acquired by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 49.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 167,479 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,269 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in KLA were worth $116,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 965 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 792 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $356,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in KLA by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,155 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,997,000 after buying an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,905 shares of company stock valued at $16,831,966 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. 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 research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $806.24.

KLA Trading Up 3.2 %

KLAC stock traded up $24.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $787.39. 1,047,694 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 842,597. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $440.15 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The company has a market capitalization of $106.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.25, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $809.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $715.73.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 28.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

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.