AJOVista LLC Invests $103,000 in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 178 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $103,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth $26,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 163.9% during the 3rd quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 95 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on KLAC shares. Citigroup upped their target price on KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $675.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $722.26.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were 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 owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC traded up $14.54 on Friday, reaching $696.59. 820,130 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 889,883. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $688.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $607.66. The stock has a market cap of $93.79 billion, a PE ratio of 36.49, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $369.66 and a 52-week high of $729.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

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.