New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 20,217 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 198,696 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 20,217 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.15% of KLA worth $115,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in KLA by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $23,059,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Chico Wealth RIA boosted its stake in KLA by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Chico Wealth RIA now owns 3,870 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 43,484 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $25,277,000 after purchasing an additional 14,251 shares during the period. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd boosted its stake in KLA by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd now owns 15,620 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,080,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,715 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC traded up $14.57 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $648.21. The stock had a trading volume of 708,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 959,227. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $355.88 and a 12 month high of $729.15. The firm has a market cap of $87.66 billion, a PE ratio of 33.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $683.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $595.92. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.38 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. KLA's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $696.58.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 16,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other KLA news, 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 $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.