931 Shares in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Bought by Ethos Financial Group LLC

Ethos Financial Group LLC bought a new position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 931 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $542,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in KLA by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $843,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in KLA by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,059,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its position in KLA by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 26,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $15,478,000 after buying an additional 1,692 shares during the period. Chico Wealth RIA raised its stake in shares of KLA by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Chico Wealth RIA now owns 3,870 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 2,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 43,484 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,277,000 after acquiring an additional 14,251 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $722.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,284 shares of company stock worth $17,260,138. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $6.48 during trading on Thursday, reaching $710.67. 976,033 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 953,193. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $380.50 and a 52-week high of $729.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $690.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $613.54. The stock has a market cap of $95.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company 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 posted $5.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

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.