California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 7,611 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 16th, 2023

California State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Rating) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 248,049 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 7,611 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.18% of KLA worth $75,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.9% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 22,566 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,261,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in KLA by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 80,289 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,382,000 after buying an additional 20,773 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC raised its holdings in KLA by 183.1% in the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 4,374 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after buying an additional 2,829 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 924 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its holdings in KLA by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 50,684 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,553,000 after buying an additional 2,151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.38% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $370.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $51.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.38. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $250.20 and a 12-month high of $429.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $397.22 and its 200 day moving average is $363.71.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 26th. The semiconductor company reported $7.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.08 by $0.30. KLA had a return on equity of 145.21% and a net margin of 33.77%. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 24.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 13th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $410.00 to $468.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $370.00 to $400.00 in a report on Monday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of KLA from $420.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Cowen increased their target price on shares of KLA from $325.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, KGI Securities downgraded shares of KLA from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,020 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.47, for a total value of $388,079.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 63,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,103,535.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

KLA Company Profile

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KLA Corp. engages in the supply of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related nano-electronics industries. The company operates through the following segments: Semiconductor Process Control, Specialty Semiconductor Process, PCB, Display & Component Inspection, and Other.