KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Position Increased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,412 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in KLA were worth $959,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in KLA during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in KLA by 2,033.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on KLAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. StockNews.com lowered KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on KLA in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $750.00 target price on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $809.81.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $804.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $108.32 billion, a PE ratio of 42.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. 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 one year low of $440.15 and a one year high of $896.32. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $768.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $756.16.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.