Kelly Financial Services LLC Invests $206,000 in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Kelly Financial Services LLC bought a new position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 303 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Keyvantage Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,211 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $45,502,000 after buying an additional 659 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $126,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $32,178,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of KLA stock opened at $872.00 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $115.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $723.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $704.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.26 EPS. KLA’s revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 27.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total value of $781,022.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,829 shares of company stock valued at $13,240,166. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $790.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $795.39.

About KLA

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.