Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 8,620 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. cut its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 613,095 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 8,620 shares during the period. KLA accounts for 2.7% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned about 0.46% of KLA worth $386,323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,433 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $5,314,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH bought a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $344,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of KLA by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,455,161 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $916,926,000 after purchasing an additional 292,907 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 320,239 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $201,789,000 after purchasing an additional 25,003 shares during the period. Finally, Triodos Investment Management BV raised its position in shares of KLA by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Triodos Investment Management BV now owns 74,351 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $46,850,000 after buying an additional 12,250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

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KLA Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $2.76 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $682.56. 452,209 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,007,042. The business's 50-day moving average price is $726.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $702.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $609.40 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. Analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA's payout ratio is presently 28.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Barclays increased their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of KLA from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $748.00 to $870.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $832.17.

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.