Advisors Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,727 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 176 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in KLA by 0.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,046,472,000 after acquiring an additional 31,608 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,175,756,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of KLA by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,455,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $916,926,000 after purchasing an additional 292,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of KLA by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,404,395 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $884,937,000 after purchasing an additional 23,365 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $669.97 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $703.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $693.18. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a market cap of $89.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $818.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.