Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Takes $936,000 Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,610 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $936,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in KLA by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its stake in KLA by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in KLA by 4.4% during the third quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 502 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in KLA by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MWA Asset Management grew its stake in KLA by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 683 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price target (up previously from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $727.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value 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 $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,284 shares of company stock worth $17,260,138. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $765.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $696.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $631.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.02 billion, a PE ratio of 40.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $404.80 and a 12 month high of $778.43.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.49 earnings per share. KLA’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.