Fred Alger Management LLC Sells 671 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Fred Alger Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,331 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 671 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $19,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $8,496,833,000 after buying an additional 85,370 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,606,838 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,273,118,000 after buying an additional 14,397 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,046,472,000 after buying an additional 31,608 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,175,756,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of KLA by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,061,878,000 after buying an additional 204,330 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KLAC. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $802.74.

KLA Stock Down 0.3%

KLAC traded down $2.13 on Friday, hitting $701.20. The company had a trading volume of 954,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,066,282. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $678.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $684.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.26 earnings per share. KLA's quarterly revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to purchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. This is a positive change from KLA's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.63%.

KLA 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.