National Pension Service Buys 5,457 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 258,829 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 5,457 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.19% of KLA worth $150,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,449,135,000 after purchasing an additional 190,355 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in KLA by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $733,249,000 after purchasing an additional 54,472 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in KLA by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $626,431,000 after buying an additional 153,752 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of KLA by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,267,811 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $581,496,000 after buying an additional 117,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $530,630,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Barclays increased their price target on KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $722.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC traded up $2.77 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $717.15. The stock had a trading volume of 672,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 953,415. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $96.56 billion, a PE ratio of 37.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $374.49 and a 1 year high of $729.15. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $690.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $612.86.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. KLA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.38%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding KLAC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.