LRI Investments LLC Buys Shares of 65 KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 65 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 77.3% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $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 fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in KLA by 2,033.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC traded up $24.58 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $787.39. 1,047,694 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 842,597. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $809.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $716.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $440.15 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were 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 $24,726,714.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KLAC. Barclays increased their price target on KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Argus upped their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $806.24.

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.