E&G Advisors LP Raises Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

E&G Advisors LP increased its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,101 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the quarter. E&G Advisors LP’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Journey Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Journey Advisory Group LLC now owns 518 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 210 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, MWA Asset Management increased its position in shares of KLA by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 683 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $66,748,351.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,748,351.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total transaction of $5,953,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,399,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on KLAC. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $747.40.

KLA Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $14.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $853.33. The stock had a trading volume of 440,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 898,864. The business’s 50 day moving average is $770.95 and its 200-day moving average is $686.67. The company has a market cap of $114.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.70, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $440.15 and a 52 week high of $876.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

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. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The business’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.49 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 23.3 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

KLA Profile

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.