Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 341 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in KLA by 16.3% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,837 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,053,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,998 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $10,090,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth $484,000. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 18.3% in the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 14,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,518,000 after buying an additional 2,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in KLA by 4.4% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 105,062 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $48,188,000 after buying an additional 4,460 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total transaction of $803,563.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares in the company, valued at $24,726,714.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the business’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 directly owns 31,356 shares in the company, valued at $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 the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders sold 22,861 shares of company stock worth $16,795,913 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KLAC. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $747.40.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $839.11 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $767.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $685.50. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $876.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.98 billion, a PE ratio of 43.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.27.

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. 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $5.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

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.