Cooper Financial Group Buys 30 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Cooper Financial Group lifted its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,188 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the quarter. Cooper Financial Group’s holdings in KLA were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in KLA by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 22,566 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,261,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 34.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 80,289 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,382,000 after purchasing an additional 20,773 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC increased its position in shares of KLA by 183.1% during the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 4,374 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,601,000 after buying an additional 2,829 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in KLA by 32.9% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 924 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 50,684 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,553,000 after purchasing an additional 2,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KLAC. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $410.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of KLA from $480.00 to $570.00 in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $445.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of KLA from $450.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $463.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 2,738 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,369,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,471,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 2,621 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.55, for a total transaction of $1,243,795.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,755,360.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 2,738 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.00, for a total transaction of $1,369,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,942 shares in the company, valued at $10,471,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 43,986 shares of company stock valued at $22,071,950. 0.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Trading Down 5.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $454.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $62.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.47. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $250.20 and a 1 year high of $520.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $486.50 and a 200 day moving average of $437.18.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The semiconductor company reported $5.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.26 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 138.06% and a net margin of 32.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 22.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 21.59%.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, September 5th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.