Ritholtz Wealth Management Has $3 Million Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,155 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $1.70 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $698.57. The company had a trading volume of 1,080,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 986,964. The company has a market capitalization of $94.47 billion, a PE ratio of 35.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $660.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $567.36. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $355.88 and a twelve month high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. KLA’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 29.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna downgraded KLA from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $640.00 to $675.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on KLA from $750.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank of America lifted their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $625.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $641.05.

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.