First Manhattan CO. LLC. Boosts Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 165.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,235 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,640 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s holdings in KLA were worth $2,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Keyvantage Wealth LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $6,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,563,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its stake in shares of KLA by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $38,326,000 after acquiring an additional 8,028 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at $53,803,042. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock traded up $9.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $805.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,171,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,076,614. The company has a 50 day moving average of $681.09 and a 200 day moving average of $685.71. The stock has a market cap of $106.45 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $551.33 and a 12-month high of $896.32.

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

KLA announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This is an increase from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA's payout ratio is currently 27.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $802.74.

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.