Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 547 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $451,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its position 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 during the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in KLA in the second quarter worth $30,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KLAC shares. Barclays lifted their price target on KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus increased their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, 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 research report on Thursday, July 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $805.29.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $812.79 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $109.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $804.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $745.40.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. KLA’s payout ratio is 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.