Private Advisor Group LLC Grows Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,120 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 306 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of KLA by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $722.26.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $718.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.63, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.33. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $381.82 and a 12 month high of $729.15. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $690.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $615.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.24 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,284 shares of company stock worth $17,260,138 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.