Norden Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Norden Group LLC boosted its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1,579.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,566 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,175 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Journey Advisory Group LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of KLA by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of KLA by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MWA Asset Management lifted its position in shares of KLA by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 683 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. TD Cowen raised their target price on KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $747.40.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC opened at $853.33 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $770.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $686.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $440.15 and a 1 year high of $876.55. The firm has a market cap of $114.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.70, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.49 EPS. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

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.