KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Acquired by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 21,412 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.86% of KLA worth $959,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in KLA during the 1st quarter valued at $379,678,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in KLA by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of KLA by 25.7% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,032,017 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $720,936,000 after acquiring an additional 211,227 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of KLA by 2,205.8% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 201,592 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $166,215,000 after acquiring an additional 192,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 136.2% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 309,546 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $214,667,000 after acquiring an additional 178,474 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $750.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $809.81.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock opened at $804.55 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $440.15 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.15, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $768.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $756.16.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.40 EPS. KLA’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.