Little House Capital LLC Purchases 117 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Little House Capital LLC grew its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,581 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Little House Capital LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at about $223,000. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $664,000. Bank OZK bought a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,000. Consolidated Planning Corp raised its stake in KLA by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 713 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $414,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of KLA by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $843,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $720.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of KLAC traded up $33.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $706.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,193,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,545. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $369.00 and a 1-year high of $729.15. The stock has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a PE ratio of 37.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $685.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $600.67. 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 (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 103.31% and a net margin of 27.19%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

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.