SageView Advisory Group LLC Buys Shares of 437 KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 437 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $276,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in KLA by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD grew its stake in KLA by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 65 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA bought a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were 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 directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on KLA from $825.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna raised their price target on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $814.11.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC traded down $7.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $634.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,224,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,058,435. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $551.33 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $84.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $695.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $690.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. 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.