DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Grows Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 7.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 317,420 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,029 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.24% of KLA worth $246,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $280,000. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in KLA by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 467 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its position in KLA by 66.4% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in KLA by 76.9% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 230 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of KLA by 40.6% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,379 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 975 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $673.07 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $452.01 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $90.18 billion, a PE ratio of 33.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $757.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $763.21.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during 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 prior year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.07 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other KLA news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total transaction of $1,702,815.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at $6,063,876.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on KLAC shares. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group dropped their price target on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $750.00 price objective for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $804.57.

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.