KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Bought by Profund Advisors LLC

Profund Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,004 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 1,193 shares during the quarter. KLA makes up about 0.7% of Profund Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $18,143,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 77.3% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in KLA in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in KLA by 2,033.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KLAC. UBS Group lowered their price target on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $950.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $812.80.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock opened at $758.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $102.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.75, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $772.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $755.00. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $440.15 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.