Marco Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Marco Investment Management LLC lifted its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,289 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the quarter. KLA accounts for about 1.8% of Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $19,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,112,261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,159,832,000 after purchasing an additional 76,226 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,061,469,000 after purchasing an additional 386,810 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in KLA by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,829,352,000 after buying an additional 71,289 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $1,048,728,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in KLA by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,113,352 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $917,970,000 after acquiring an additional 81,335 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $713.46 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $791.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $752.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.06 billion, a PE ratio of 37.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $440.15 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $950.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James raised their price target on KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $805.29.

KLA 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.