Bank OZK Acquires New Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Bank OZK acquired a new stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Consolidated Planning Corp grew its holdings in KLA by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 713 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in KLA by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $843,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in KLA by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 40,469 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,572,000 after purchasing an additional 8,110 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in KLA by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 4.9 %

KLAC stock traded up $33.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $706.26. 1,193,523 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 821,545. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $369.00 and a 52-week 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $685.41 and a 200-day moving average of $600.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 103.31% and a net margin of 27.19%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on KLAC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $720.42.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.