KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Acquired by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 306,342 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,121 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $193,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,496,833,000 after purchasing an additional 85,370 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,046,472,000 after acquiring an additional 31,608 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,175,756,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,455,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $916,926,000 after acquiring an additional 292,907 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its position in KLA by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,394,260 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $953,774,000 after purchasing an additional 119,845 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded KLA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $748.00 to $870.00 in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Barclays upped their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $832.17.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 7.1 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $576.53 on Monday. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $546.54 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $716.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $699.57. The company has a market capitalization of $76.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued 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 1.18%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

KLA Company Profile

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.