Advisor Resource Council Buys New Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 522 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,480 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in KLA by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,559,000. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in shares of KLA by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,059,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 26,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $15,478,000 after acquiring an additional 1,692 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $853.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $114.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.70, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $440.15 and a 1 year high of $876.55. The business has a fifty day moving average of $770.95 and a 200-day moving average of $686.67.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.49 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Barclays upgraded 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 research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on KLA in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $820.00 target price for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $747.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total value of $5,953,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at $24,399,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Profile

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.