Value Partners Investments Inc. Buys Shares of 245 KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Value Partners Investments Inc. bought a new stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 245 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $154,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keyvantage Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth $1,563,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $38,326,000 after purchasing an additional 8,028 shares during the period. Bensler LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 18,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $11,946,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 610,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $384,404,000 after purchasing an additional 59,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $690.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of KLA from $870.00 to $868.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $799.58.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 1.3%

KLAC opened at $757.17 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $896.32. 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 company has a market cap of $100.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $695.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $691.83.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.90 per share. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.63%.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to repurchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.