Bank of Montreal Can Sells 48,354 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 258,028 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 48,354 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.19% of KLA worth $162,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $1,175,756,000. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 381.3% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 733,328 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $462,085,000 after buying an additional 580,967 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 114,444.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 342,488 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $215,809,000 after buying an additional 342,189 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position 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 worth $916,926,000 after acquiring an additional 292,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 172.2% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 357,305 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $225,145,000 after acquiring an additional 226,041 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $725.00 price target (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley upgraded KLA from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $748.00 to $870.00 in a research note on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of KLA from $850.00 to $700.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $818.28.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. The trade was a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock traded up $13.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $670.22. The stock had a trading volume of 1,361,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,053,963. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.06 billion, a PE ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $551.33 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $705.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $693.97.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

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.