Norges Bank Makes New $1.18 Billion Investment in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,865,924 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,756,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.40% of KLA at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,484,468 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,496,833,000 after purchasing an additional 85,370 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in KLA by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,979,293 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,630,424,000 after purchasing an additional 145,317 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,221,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,487,971,000 after buying an additional 93,743 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of KLA by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,394,260 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $953,774,000 after buying an additional 119,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,153,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $726,555,000 after buying an additional 64,238 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $759.00 to $864.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on KLA from $703.00 to $748.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $830.67.

KLA Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $700.00 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $609.40 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $729.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $703.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. Sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.60%.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.