GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 25.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 922 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in KLA by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,036,035 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,577,847,000 after buying an additional 133,821 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in KLA by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth $1,048,728,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in KLA by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $733,249,000 after buying an additional 54,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings 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 valued at $581,496,000 after purchasing an additional 117,584 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Barclays raised shares of KLA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $630.00 to $765.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, April 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $747.40.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $863.31 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $440.15 and a 52 week high of $876.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.24 billion, a PE ratio of 45.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $738.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $667.85.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 23.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total transaction of $5,953,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,399,800. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total transaction of $5,953,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,399,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,136 shares of company stock worth $24,016,781 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.