HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Makes New Investment in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 990 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $575,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays upgraded shares of KLA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $630.00 to $765.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $747.40.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other KLA news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total transaction of $5,953,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,399,800. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,136 shares of company stock valued at $24,016,781 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $863.31 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $440.15 and a 12-month high of $876.55. The company has a market cap of $116.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.22, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $738.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $667.85.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date 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.