VCI Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Stake in KLA Corporation $KLAC

VCI Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 19,315 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,765,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KLAC. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Atomic Invest LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 781.8% in the 2nd quarter. Atomic Invest LLC now owns 97 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 2,275.0% in the 2nd quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 95 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 900.0% in the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 900.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 120 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Stock Down 3.0%

Shares of KLAC opened at $153.11 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $199.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.03. KLA Corporation has a 1 year low of $107.20 and a 1 year high of $307.37.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. KLA had a net margin of 36.25% and a return on equity of 91.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.47 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 5.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on KLAC shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (down from $190.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on KLA from $245.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $240.00 price target on KLA and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $195.00 price target (down from $220.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 59,586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.13, for a total transaction of $12,401,634.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 77,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,167,746.53. This trade represents a 43.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 4,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.50, for a total value of $880,532.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 7,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,558,526. The trade was a 36.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 237,479 shares of company stock worth $45,780,736 in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About KLA

KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) develops process control, inspection and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and other advanced manufacturing industries. Its technologies help manufacturers identify defects, measure critical dimensions and monitor production processes to improve quality, reliability and manufacturing efficiency.

The company’s product portfolio includes wafer and reticle inspection systems, metrology and measurement tools, defect review and classification systems, and software for analyzing manufacturing data.