KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Purchased by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,404,395 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 23,365 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 1.06% of KLA worth $884,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in KLA by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $6,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth $1,563,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $38,326,000 after purchasing an additional 8,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $1,190,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $818.28.

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KLA Stock Up 2.0 %

KLA stock traded up $13.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $670.22. 1,361,682 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,053,963. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $705.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $693.97. The firm has a market cap of $89.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 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, sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA's payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

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.