KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp lowered its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 37.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in KLA were worth $851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank raised its position in KLA by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 19,599 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,350,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of KLA by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,239 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,041,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of KLA by 94.1% during the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 8,763 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,553,000 after purchasing an additional 4,248 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its stake in KLA by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 26,363 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $16,612,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $754,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of KLA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $748.00 to $870.00 in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $832.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $576.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $559.76 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $76.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $716.60 and its 200-day moving average is $700.07.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

KLA 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.