1,378 Shares in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Acquired by Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,378 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $801,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 52.8% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $530,630,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in KLA by 6,309.1% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 250,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $145,410,000 after purchasing an additional 246,244 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $132,189,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of KLA by 6.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,449,135,000 after buying an additional 190,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of KLA by 12.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $626,431,000 after buying an additional 153,752 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $722.26.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction 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 approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’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 directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 3.5 %

KLA stock opened at $689.29 on Wednesday. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $369.66 and a 52-week high of $729.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.11, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $687.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $604.43.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 22.95 earnings per share for the current 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 paid 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 0.84%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

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.