KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Holdings Cut by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lessened its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 613,095 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 8,620 shares during the quarter. KLA makes up approximately 2.7% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in KLA were worth $386,323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in KLA by 300.0% during the fourth 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 during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $825.39.

KLA Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $673.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $89.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $727.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $703.11. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $609.40 and a 52-week high of $896.32. 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) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. KLA’s payout ratio is 28.60%.

KLA 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.