Summit Global Investments Takes $673,000 Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,159 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $673,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 6.4% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in KLA by 3.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $733,249,000 after buying an additional 54,472 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in KLA by 12.7% during the third 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 last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of KLA by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,267,811 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $581,496,000 after buying an additional 117,584 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $530,630,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 shares were 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 directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $696.59 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $688.02 and a 200-day moving average of $607.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $369.66 and a fifty-two week high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced 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. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 23.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America increased their price target on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $722.26.

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.