KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Acquired by Natixis Advisors L.P.

Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 139,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned about 0.10% of KLA worth $81,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its position in KLA by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in KLA by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,059,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in KLA by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 26,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $15,478,000 after purchasing an additional 1,692 shares during the period. Chico Wealth RIA boosted its stake in KLA by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Chico Wealth RIA now owns 3,870 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares during the period. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 43,484 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,277,000 after purchasing an additional 14,251 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $722.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $14.54 on Friday, reaching $696.59. The stock had a trading volume of 819,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 959,950. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $369.66 and a 1-year high of $729.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $687.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $605.39. The company has a market capitalization of $93.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.49 earnings per share. KLA’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.24 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

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.