KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Purchased by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,679 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in KLA were worth $6,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in KLA by 3.1% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 31,568 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,479,000 after buying an additional 953 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in KLA by 61.9% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 29,474 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,318,000 after buying an additional 11,274 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in KLA by 16.5% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 798 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC increased its position in KLA by 1.7% during the third quarter. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC now owns 5,609 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,573,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio increased its position in KLA by 3.0% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 52,126 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,908,000 after buying an additional 1,517 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price objective (up previously from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $722.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of KLAC traded up $21.79 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $718.38. 873,635 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 957,633. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $374.49 and a 1-year high of $729.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $688.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $610.35. The company has a market cap of $96.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.24 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

KLA Company 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.