Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Sells 2,681 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 135,595 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,681 shares during the period. KLA comprises about 4.8% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $78,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $572,224,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 52.8% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $530,630,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 22.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,074,884 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $759,532,000 after buying an additional 385,420 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 10.4% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,844,959 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,133,396,000 after purchasing an additional 268,104 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in KLA by 6,309.1% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 250,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $145,410,000 after purchasing an additional 246,244 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. New Street Research began coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, December 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $688.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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.

KLA Stock Up 1.7 %

KLAC traded up $11.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $689.75. The company had a trading volume of 399,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 951,706. The company has a market capitalization of $93.27 billion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.34. KLA Co. has a one year low of $355.88 and a one year high of $729.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $681.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $589.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The firm’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 22.65 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 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.