Harmony Asset Management LLC Takes Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Harmony Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 313 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 77.3% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in KLA during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in KLA by 2,033.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,749,473.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $950.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $812.80.

KLA Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $758.85 on Monday. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $440.15 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $772.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $755.28. The company has a market cap of $102.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.75, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.