Holderness Investments Co. Buys 83 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Holderness Investments Co. raised its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,185 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Holderness Investments Co.’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in KLA by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,112,261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,159,832,000 after purchasing an additional 76,226 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in KLA by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,811,766 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,318,329,000 after buying an additional 28,172 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,829,352,000 after buying an additional 71,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of KLA by 7.9% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,113,352 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $917,970,000 after acquiring an additional 81,335 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value 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 approximately $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total transaction of $1,702,815.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus increased their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $812.80.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $758.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $102.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $772.98 and its 200 day moving average is $755.00. KLA Co. has a one year low of $440.15 and a one year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

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.