Waldron Private Wealth LLC Makes New $222,000 Investment in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 382 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on KLAC shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $688.42.

Insider Activity at KLA

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

KLA Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $693.31 on Wednesday. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $683.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $590.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.34. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $355.88 and a 52-week high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.65 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

About KLA

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.