Little House Capital LLC Has $2.66 Million Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Little House Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,581 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 117 shares during the quarter. Little House Capital LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in KLA by 6.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,449,135,000 after acquiring an additional 190,355 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in KLA by 3.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $733,249,000 after acquiring an additional 54,472 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in KLA by 12.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $626,431,000 after acquiring an additional 153,752 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in KLA by 10.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,267,811 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $581,496,000 after acquiring an additional 117,584 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 52.8% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $530,630,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLA stock traded up $33.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $706.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,193,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,545. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market capitalization of $95.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $685.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $600.67. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $369.00 and a 1-year high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 103.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued 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 an average target price of $720.42.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.