Korea Investment CORP Trims Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Korea Investment CORP trimmed its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 107,279 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 761 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.08% of KLA worth $67,599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in KLA by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in shares of KLA by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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KLA Trading Up 0.4 %

KLA stock traded up $2.66 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $682.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 669,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,007,994. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $724.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $701.85. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $609.40 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $90.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Barclays upped 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 increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus 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.