KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock Position Increased by E&G Advisors LP

E&G Advisors LP lifted its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,101 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. E&G Advisors LP’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,036,035 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,577,847,000 after acquiring an additional 133,821 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $1,048,728,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 10.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,267,811 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $581,496,000 after buying an additional 117,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 52.8% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $530,630,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $10,039,269.67. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,905 shares of company stock valued at $16,831,966. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised KLA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $630.00 to $765.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $747.40.

KLA Trading Up 1.7 %

KLAC stock traded up $14.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $853.33. 440,454 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 898,864. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $770.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $686.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. The company has a market cap of $114.89 billion, a PE ratio of 44.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a one year low of $440.15 and a one year high of $876.55.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.