Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Has $5.22 Million Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC decreased its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 60.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,280 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 12,885 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $5,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD raised its position in shares of KLA by 160.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 65 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on KLAC. TD Securities lifted their price objective on KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $802.74.

KLA Stock Down 0.7 %

KLA stock traded down $4.87 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $693.29. The stock had a trading volume of 811,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,062,113. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $679.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $683.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. KLA's dividend payout ratio is 28.60%.

KLA announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About KLA

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.