Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 106 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,786 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of KLA by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $722.26.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $696.59 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $93.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $688.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $608.56. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $369.66 and a 12 month high of $729.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. On average, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

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.