Diversify Advisory Services LLC Takes Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 723 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $514,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in KLA by 2,033.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $820.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $747.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA 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 value of $36,053.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock traded up $1.88 on Friday, hitting $855.21. The company had a trading volume of 461,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 704,932. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $440.15 and a 12-month high of $876.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $777.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $689.76. The stock has a market cap of $115.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.27.

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, equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 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.