Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 8,110 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 25.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,469 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 8,110 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in KLA were worth $23,572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 52.8% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $530,630,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 6,309.1% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 250,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $145,410,000 after acquiring an additional 246,244 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $132,189,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,449,135,000 after purchasing an additional 190,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $626,431,000 after purchasing an additional 153,752 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $722.26.

KLA Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $666.04 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $369.66 and a 52-week high of $729.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. The company has a market capitalization of $89.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $687.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $604.86.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Profile

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.