Renaissance Group LLC Buys 7,770 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Renaissance Group LLC boosted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,143 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,770 shares during the period. Renaissance Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $34,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,496,833,000 after buying an additional 85,370 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,253,302 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,046,472,000 after acquiring an additional 31,608 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $1,175,756,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,455,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $916,926,000 after purchasing an additional 292,907 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,404,395 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $884,937,000 after purchasing an additional 23,365 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KLAC. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $725.00 price objective (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $832.17.

KLA Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $604.62 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $80.35 billion, a PE ratio of 25.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $714.64 and its 200 day moving average is $698.39. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $551.33 and a 52-week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.