Fifth Third Bancorp Purchases 2,412 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 58.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,549 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,412 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in KLA were worth $4,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $1,048,728,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 52.8% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $530,630,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in KLA by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in KLA by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $580,008,000 after buying an additional 301,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in KLA by 6,309.1% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 250,147 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $145,410,000 after buying an additional 246,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm'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 approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded KLA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $722.26.

KLA Stock Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $14.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $696.59. 820,130 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 889,883. The company has a fifty day moving average of $688.02 and a 200 day moving average of $607.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $369.66 and a twelve month high of $729.15. The company has a market capitalization of $93.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.33.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.24 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA's payout ratio is 30.38%.

KLA 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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