Cooper Financial Group Buys 34 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Cooper Financial Group grew its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,300 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in KLA were worth $908,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Journey Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 518 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in KLA by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in KLA by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, MWA Asset Management boosted its holdings in KLA by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 683 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on KLAC shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays raised shares of KLA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $630.00 to $765.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $747.40.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $816.55 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $744.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $672.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. The stock has a market cap of $109.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $440.15 and a fifty-two week high of $876.55.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total transaction of $803,563.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,879 shares of company stock worth $21,743,883 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.