KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Position Increased by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,178 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in KLA were worth $22,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 8,354 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,856,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its holdings in KLA by 90.9% in the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 4,847 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,818,000 after buying an additional 2,308 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in KLA by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 4,453 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,589,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its stake in KLA by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 2,499 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $750.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on KLA from $950.00 to $925.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $804.81.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,749,473.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,257,998.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $774.56 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $104.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $449.35 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $768.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $759.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given 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 yield of 0.75%. KLA’s payout ratio 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.