Cwm LLC Raises Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Cwm LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 20.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,603 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 442 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, 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 corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $720.42.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $706.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $369.00 and a fifty-two week high of $729.15. The stock has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a PE ratio of 35.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $685.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $599.79.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.49 EPS. Analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. KLA’s payout ratio is 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.