Savant Capital LLC Acquires 132 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Savant Capital LLC raised its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,056 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $696.59 on Friday. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $369.66 and a twelve month high of $729.15. The company has a market capitalization of $93.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $687.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $605.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.49 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $722.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.