Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Acquires 11,878 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 103.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,397 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 11,878 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $13,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its position in shares of KLA by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLAC opened at $779.06 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $701.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $635.82. The firm has a market cap of $104.89 billion, a PE ratio of 40.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.33. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $418.12 and a 1-year high of $790.52.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 23.3 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on KLAC. Bank of America raised their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective (up previously from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $727.15.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,136 shares of company stock worth $24,016,781. 0.12% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.