Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 332,071 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 34,332 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in KLA were worth $209,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of KLA by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,161,000 after buying an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $1,563,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its stake in KLA by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,326,000 after acquiring an additional 8,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth $1,190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $832.17.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC opened at $679.80 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $726.28 and its 200-day moving average is $702.34. The stock has a market cap of $90.34 billion, a PE ratio of 28.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $609.40 and a twelve month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. On average, analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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.