BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Acquires 5,586 Shares of KLA Corporation $KLAC

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 101,382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 5,586 shares during the period. KLA accounts for about 1.0% of BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S owned 0.08% of KLA worth $109,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 188,735 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $169,056,000 after purchasing an additional 2,117 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at about $95,217,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 14.9% in the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 98,398 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $88,139,000 after acquiring an additional 12,729 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in KLA by 5,697.9% in the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 97,231 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $87,094,000 after acquiring an additional 95,554 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Associates Ltd. OH grew its holdings in KLA by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oak Associates Ltd. OH now owns 90,116 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $80,721,000 after acquiring an additional 1,504 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of KLA from $1,350.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on KLA from $820.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on KLA from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $1,300.00 to $1,800.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $1,400.00 to $1,800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,582.89.

KLA Stock Down 3.6%

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $1,307.22 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $171.35 billion, a PE ratio of 38.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.47. KLA Corporation has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $1,693.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1,338.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,135.42.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $8.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.75 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. KLA had a net margin of 35.76% and a return on equity of 98.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.20 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that KLA Corporation will post 31.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 2,254 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,237.01, for a total transaction of $2,788,220.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 32,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,774,819.54. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,803 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,203.10, for a total value of $12,997,089.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,704,954.10. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 91.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

KLA Profile

KLA is a provider of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related microelectronics industries. The company designs and manufactures equipment, software and services used by chipmakers to analyze and control manufacturing processes, detect defects, measure critical dimensions and improve yield across wafer fabrication, photomask and packaging operations. KLA’s offerings are aimed at enabling production of advanced logic, memory, and specialty devices at progressively smaller technology nodes and more complex package structures.

Its product portfolio includes optical and e-beam inspection systems, metrology tools for critical dimension and film measurement, mask and reticle inspection platforms, as well as enterprise software and data analytics that aggregate process data and drive automated process control.