Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 57 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,122 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $990.00 to $960.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $805.29.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC opened at $819.43 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $110.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.92, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50 day moving average is $803.10 and its 200 day moving average is $748.75. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $440.15 and a 12-month high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.