Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Boosts Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1,294.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,046 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 971 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $608,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in KLA by 61.9% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 29,474 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,318,000 after acquiring an additional 11,274 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 3.3% in the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 5,816 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,668,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the third quarter worth about $2,122,000. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in KLA by 1.3% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,921 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $881,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new position in KLA in the third quarter valued at about $1,532,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 0.4 %

KLAC stock opened at $717.15 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The company has a market cap of $96.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $690.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $612.86. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $374.49 and a 52 week high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.24 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price target (up from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $722.26.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was 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 approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.