Visionary Horizons LLC Trims Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Visionary Horizons LLC reduced its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 10.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 808 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. Visionary Horizons LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,048,728,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 52.8% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $530,630,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in KLA by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in KLA by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $580,008,000 after buying an additional 301,848 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in KLA by 6,309.1% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 250,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $145,410,000 after buying an additional 246,244 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $813.30 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $440.15 and a fifty-two week high of $876.55. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $748.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $676.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $109.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.49 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.3 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $747.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total transaction of $803,563.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,726,714.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total transaction of $803,563.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total value of $5,953,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now 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 a total of 22,861 shares of company stock valued at $16,795,913 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA 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.