Strong Tower Advisory Services Purchases 48 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,008 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in KLA were worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Transform Wealth LLC boosted its position in KLA by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Transform Wealth LLC now owns 12,222 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,105,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in KLA by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 5,155 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter worth $356,000. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 792 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northstar Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth $244,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at KLA

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

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $698.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $94.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $660.14 and its 200-day moving average is $567.36. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $355.88 and a 1-year high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.74 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America lifted their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Susquehanna downgraded KLA from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $640.00 to $675.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $641.05.

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.