Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,433 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,103 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in KLA were worth $16,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RWA Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,544 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $11,361,000 after buying an additional 8,721 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $3,528,000. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $252,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $327,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in KLA by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 53,237 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $30,947,000 after acquiring an additional 7,912 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other 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 completion of 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 SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Up 0.9 %

KLAC traded up $5.48 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $633.64. 923,871 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 962,411. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $355.88 and a 12-month high of $729.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $683.91 and a 200 day moving average of $595.92. The firm has a market cap of $85.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.38 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $688.42.

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.

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