Chiron Investment Management LLC Has $983,000 Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Chiron Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 208.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,560 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Chiron Investment Management LLC's holdings in KLA were worth $983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $8,496,833,000 after acquiring an additional 85,370 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,046,472,000 after buying an additional 31,608 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth $1,175,756,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of KLA by 25.2% in 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 buying an additional 292,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in KLA by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,404,395 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $884,937,000 after acquiring an additional 23,365 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of KLA stock traded down $7.76 during trading on Friday, reaching $634.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,224,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,057,816. 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $697.62 and its 200-day moving average is $691.75. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $84.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA's payout ratio is 28.60%.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were 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 owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley raised KLA from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $748.00 to $870.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $850.00 to $700.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on KLA from $825.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $814.11.

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.