Cetera Advisors LLC Purchases 7,487 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Cetera Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 399.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,359 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 7,487 shares during the quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $6,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of KLA by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 4,523 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,629,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $360,000. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in KLA by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,236 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in KLA by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 41,210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Argus lifted their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $806.24.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC traded down $59.97 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $696.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,071,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,064,510. The company’s 50-day moving average is $808.65 and its 200-day moving average is $722.79. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $440.15 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The firm has a market cap of $93.73 billion, a PE ratio of 36.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.