Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,424 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $995,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,036,035 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,577,847,000 after buying an additional 133,821 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of KLA by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,061,469,000 after purchasing an additional 386,810 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,048,728,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of KLA by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,032,017 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $720,936,000 after purchasing an additional 211,227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $580,008,000 after purchasing an additional 301,848 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total value of $5,953,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,399,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,905 shares of company stock valued at $16,831,966 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $771.65.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $787.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $105.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $804.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $706.44. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $440.15 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

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.