KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Purchased by Wells Fargo & Company MN

Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 258,456 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 38,628 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.19% of KLA worth $162,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KLAC. United Bank purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $339,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 1,050.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,751 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,905,000 after acquiring an additional 3,425 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 51.3% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 4,593 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,558 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth about $302,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 3.8% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,765,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $576.53 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $716.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $699.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $546.54 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on KLAC. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $832.17.

About KLA

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.