Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 34,332 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 332,071 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 34,332 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.25% of KLA worth $209,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in KLA by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $8,496,833,000 after purchasing an additional 85,370 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $4,630,424,000 after purchasing an additional 145,317 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,487,971,000 after buying an additional 93,743 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,175,756,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 25.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,455,161 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $916,926,000 after purchasing an additional 292,907 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $44.29 on Friday, reaching $576.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,071,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,015,073. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $716.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $699.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. The company has a market cap of $76.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $559.76 and a 52-week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA's payout ratio is 28.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $725.00 price target (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of KLA from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $748.00 to $870.00 in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $832.17.

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.