Silver Lake Advisory LLC Takes Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Silver Lake Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 245 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KLAC. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter worth about $379,678,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in KLA by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,061,469,000 after purchasing an additional 386,810 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in KLA by 25.7% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,032,017 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $720,936,000 after purchasing an additional 211,227 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in KLA by 2,205.8% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 201,592 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $166,215,000 after purchasing an additional 192,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in KLA by 136.2% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 309,546 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $214,667,000 after purchasing an additional 178,474 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $782.40 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $769.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $758.07. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $443.71 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $105.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.98, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Raymond James lifted their target price on KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on KLA in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $750.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $950.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $809.81.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other KLA news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,063,876.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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. Insiders sold 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.