D.A. Davidson & CO. Acquires 168 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,041 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 168 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,449,135,000 after purchasing an additional 190,355 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,048,728,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in KLA by 3.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $733,249,000 after buying an additional 54,472 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of KLA by 12.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $626,431,000 after purchasing an additional 153,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of KLA by 10.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,267,811 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $581,496,000 after purchasing an additional 117,584 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Trading Up 1.8 %

KLAC stock traded up $13.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $779.06. 548,554 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 812,077. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.81, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $701.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $634.89. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $418.12 and a 12-month high of $790.52.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total value of $803,563.02. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total value of $803,563.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,726,714.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at $24,399,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,136 shares of company stock worth $24,016,781 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on KLAC. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $820.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $727.15.

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.