Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Makes New Investment in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA purchased a new stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 250 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 77.3% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 2,033.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247 over the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $731.04 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $776.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $754.25. The firm has a market cap of $98.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $440.15 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $950.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $812.80.

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.