Van ECK Associates Corp Has $477.13 Million Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 820,790 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 122,886 shares during the quarter. KLA comprises approximately 0.9% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in KLA were worth $477,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.0% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 732 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 15.4% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 30,558 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,016,000 after purchasing an additional 4,089 shares during the period. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at about $832,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in KLA by 0.8% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 94,420 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $43,307,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 32,152 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,747,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other KLA 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 directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $722.26.

KLA Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $7.67 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $713.93. The company had a trading volume of 899,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 961,630. The firm has a market cap of $96.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $685.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $601.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $369.66 and a twelve month high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.49 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. 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.