Cooper Financial Group Buys 34 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Cooper Financial Group lifted its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,300 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in KLA were worth $908,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Paragon Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 579 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS raised its holdings in KLA by 72.0% in the 1st quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 724 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV acquired a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $511,000. Finally, Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc acquired a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $210,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total transaction of $803,563.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total value of $803,563.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,879 shares of company stock valued at $21,743,883. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America increased their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on KLA in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $820.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $747.40.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock opened at $816.55 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $744.09 and its 200-day moving average is $672.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The company has a market cap of $109.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $876.55.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.3 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s payout ratio 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.