AE Wealth Management LLC Invests $256,000 in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 311 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. APG Asset Management US Inc. bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $15,781,000. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,050,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its holdings in KLA by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 8,780 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 1,579.3% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 6,566 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,589,000 after buying an additional 6,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Objective Capital Management LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 2.8 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $782.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.98, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a one year low of $443.71 and a one year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $769.26 and its 200-day moving average is $756.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $5.40 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James increased their target price on KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $809.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.