Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Boosts Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd boosted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,620 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the period. KLA comprises 1.4% of Ninety One SA PTY Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd's holdings in KLA were worth $9,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the third quarter worth about $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in KLA in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of KLA stock traded down $14.76 on Thursday, reaching $644.22. The company had a trading volume of 902,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 961,445. The firm has a market cap of $87.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.34. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $684.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $591.62. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $355.88 and a 1 year high of $729.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The business's revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on KLA in a report on Tuesday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $688.42.

About KLA

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.