QRG Capital Management Inc. Acquires 1,648 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,085 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,648 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in KLA were worth $30,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 52.8% during the third 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 last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in KLA by 6,309.1% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 250,147 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $145,410,000 after purchasing an additional 246,244 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $132,189,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,449,135,000 after purchasing an additional 190,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 12.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $626,431,000 after buying an additional 153,752 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related 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 transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company'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 transaction 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 24,284 shares of company stock valued at $17,260,138. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com raised KLA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $722.26.

KLA Trading Up 1.1 %

KLA stock traded up $7.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $718.27. The company had a trading volume of 448,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 923,188. The firm has a market cap of $96.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.33. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $381.82 and a 12-month high of $729.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $690.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $615.31.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The firm's revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. Equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. 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.

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.