Two Sigma Advisers LP Sells 35,500 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Two Sigma Advisers LP decreased its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 192,700 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 35,500 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned approximately 0.15% of KLA worth $121,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth $1,175,756,000. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 381.3% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 733,328 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $462,085,000 after acquiring an additional 580,967 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 114,444.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 342,488 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $215,809,000 after acquiring an additional 342,189 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth $187,212,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in KLA by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,455,161 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $916,926,000 after acquiring an additional 292,907 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $830.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $799.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC traded down $11.43 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $767.51. 681,865 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,084,006. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $693.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $690.36. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $101.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.26 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. This is a boost from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. KLA's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

KLA declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Company Profile

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.