Northstar Advisory Group LLC Purchases Shares of 419 KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Northstar Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 419 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $625.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, March 4th. New Street Research began coverage on KLA in a research report on Monday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $641.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $695.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $94.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.34. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $355.88 and a twelve month high of $729.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $657.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $566.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The firm’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 22.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 29.46%.

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.