Forsta AP Fonden Boosts Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 15.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,900 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in KLA were worth $31,249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. 9258 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $210,000. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 156 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,393 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $810,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Finally, Inceptionr LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $231,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $748.82 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $789.58 and its 200 day moving average is $752.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $440.15 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $100.82 billion, a PE ratio of 39.23, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.28.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Argus lifted their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $805.29.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Company 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.