B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Has $4.75 Million Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG reduced its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,536 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 235 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in KLA by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,112 shares during the period. Milestone Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $1,563,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $38,326,000 after acquiring an additional 8,028 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,190,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KLAC. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of KLA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $748.00 to $870.00 in a research report on Monday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of KLA from $665.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on KLA from $725.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $832.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of KLA 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 directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,867,606.76. This trade represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 0.9 %

KLAC stock opened at $679.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.34 billion, a PE 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $609.40 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $726.28 and its 200-day moving average is $702.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $1.70 dividend. 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 (DPR) 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.