Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Has $2.36 Million Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,134 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 19.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $991,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of KLA by 40.4% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,129 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 5.7% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 427 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of KLA by 12.4% in the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 481 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at about $307,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC traded up $14.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $648.21. The company had a trading volume of 707,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 959,227. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $684.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $597.19. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $355.88 and a 1-year high of $729.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91. The company has a market capitalization of $87.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.34.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA 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 in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of KLA from $525.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $696.58.

About KLA

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.