Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 307,099 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Wellington Management Group LLP cut its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,491,199 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 307,099 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 1.12% of KLA worth $939,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in KLA by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $1,563,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $38,326,000 after buying an additional 8,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on KLAC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $832.17.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $679.80 on Tuesday. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $609.40 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $726.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $702.34. The company has a market capitalization of $90.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued 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%. Analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 28.60%.

KLA 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.