G&S Capital LLC Takes Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

G&S Capital LLC acquired a new stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 948 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Journey Advisory Group LLC increased its position in KLA by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 518 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position in KLA by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its position in KLA by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its position in KLA by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, MWA Asset Management increased its position in KLA by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 683 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $747.40.

KLA Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $813.30 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $748.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $676.62. 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 Co. has a one year low of $440.15 and a one year high of $876.55. The company has a market cap of $109.50 billion, a PE ratio of 42.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.28.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total transaction of $803,563.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total transaction of $803,563.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were 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 owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,861 shares of company stock worth $16,795,913. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.