Independence Bank of Kentucky Buys 35 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 15.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 265 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in KLA were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in KLA by 77.3% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 2.4 %

KLAC stock opened at $817.84 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $806.90 and a 200 day moving average of $742.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.11 billion, a PE ratio of 42.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.27. 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 52 week low of $440.15 and a 52 week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on KLAC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $950.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $805.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247 in the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Company 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.