Graham Capital Management L.P. Buys 7,988 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 909.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,866 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,988 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in KLA were worth $5,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in KLA by 0.6% during 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 buying an additional 85,370 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in KLA by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,606,838 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,273,118,000 after acquiring an additional 14,397 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $1,175,756,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of KLA by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,061,878,000 after purchasing an additional 204,330 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were 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 directly owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $701.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $93.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.49, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $678.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $684.07.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. The company’s revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.26 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $1.90 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KLAC. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $830.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup decreased their target price on KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $802.74.

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.