New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 20,217 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 198,696 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 20,217 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.15% of KLA worth $115,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth about $26,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in KLA by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, April 1st. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America raised their price target on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $688.42.

KLA Trading Up 2.8 %

KLAC stock traded up $17.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $651.21. The company had a trading volume of 178,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 952,025. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $355.88 and a 52 week high of $729.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $683.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $595.92. The stock has a market cap of $88.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 29.46%.

About KLA

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets 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, Display and Component Inspection.