Ardevora Asset Management LLP Sells 24,220 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Ardevora Asset Management LLP decreased its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 55.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,610 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 24,220 shares during the quarter. Ardevora Asset Management LLP's holdings in KLA were worth $11,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $572,224,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $530,630,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in KLA by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,074,884 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $759,532,000 after buying an additional 385,420 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,844,959 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,133,396,000 after buying an additional 268,104 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in KLA by 6,309.1% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 250,147 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $145,410,000 after buying an additional 246,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was 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 owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on KLAC. UBS Group lifted their target price on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Susquehanna reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $688.42.

KLA Stock Down 2.5 %

KLA stock traded down $16.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $628.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,072,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 780,643. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $684.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $594.71. The company has a market capitalization of $84.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.34. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $355.88 and a 12 month high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

KLA Company Profile

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.