Ascent Group LLC Buys 572 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Ascent Group LLC grew its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 35.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,184 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 572 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 77.3% in 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 during the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake 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 valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total transaction of $5,953,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,399,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,905 shares of company stock valued at $16,831,966. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $950.00 price target on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $820.00 target price on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $806.24.

KLA Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ KLAC traded down $8.85 during trading on Monday, hitting $778.54. The stock had a trading volume of 627,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 905,372. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $809.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $717.98. KLA Co. has a one year low of $440.15 and a one year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

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