KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 68,695 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,277 shares during the period. KLA makes up about 2.3% of Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $39,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in shares of KLA by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in KLA by 4.7% in the third quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 466 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 502 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KLAC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $688.42.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC traded down $11.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $632.36. The stock had a trading volume of 226,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 951,448. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.72, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $355.88 and a twelve month high of $729.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $684.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $591.62.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The business’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders 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 0.92%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.