AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Boosts Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 302,901 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 584 shares during the quarter. KLA accounts for approximately 1.4% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned approximately 0.22% of KLA worth $249,745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 1.7 %

KLA stock traded up $13.82 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $812.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 548,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 927,470. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $804.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $745.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.50. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $440.15 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.58, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,749,473.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on KLAC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus upped their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “hold” 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $805.29.

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.