Souders Financial Advisors Invests $239,000 in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Souders Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 411 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $625.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $655.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock traded up $10.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $682.84. 712,003 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 879,060. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.68, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $670.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $578.16. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $355.88 and a 52 week high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. KLA’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.74 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

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.