Allstate Corp Buys New Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Allstate Corp purchased a new position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,964 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,498,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in KLA by 82.3% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 4,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 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 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $673.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $89.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $727.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $703.04. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $609.40 and a 1 year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $825.39.

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.