LPL Financial LLC Grows Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,004 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,879 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.07% of KLA worth $75,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. 9258 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 156 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,393 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $810,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 902 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 2.5 %

KLAC stock opened at $751.50 on Friday. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market cap of $101.18 billion, a PE ratio of 39.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $785.10 and a 200 day moving average of $752.79.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.40 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 30.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $805.52.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,257,998.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

KLA Company 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.