Fisher Asset Management LLC Buys 195 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,374 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 195 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth about $26,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays upgraded shares of KLA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $630.00 to $765.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $747.40.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $816.55 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $109.94 billion, a PE ratio of 42.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $744.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $672.84. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $440.15 and a 1-year high of $876.55.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares in the company, 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. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,879 shares of company stock worth $21,743,883 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.