BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments Makes New $1.89 Million Investment in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments bought a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,990 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $1,894,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Algert Global LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 607.1% during the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 3,394 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,139,000 after buying an additional 2,914 shares during the period. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in KLA by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,005,835 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $633,797,000 after acquiring an additional 60,000 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 867 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $546,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. AXA S.A. lifted its stake in KLA by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 85,871 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $54,109,000 after purchasing an additional 17,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1248 Management LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $1,057,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on KLAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities boosted their price objective on KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $802.74.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $14.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $694.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 962,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,062,959. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $677.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $683.65. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $92.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.26 earnings per share. KLA's revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. KLA's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.72%.

About KLA

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.