375 Shares in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Acquired by Brookstone Capital Management

Brookstone Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 375 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KLAC. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in KLA by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 22,566 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,261,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in KLA by 34.9% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 80,289 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,382,000 after purchasing an additional 20,773 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC raised its position in KLA by 183.1% during the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 4,374 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 2,829 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 924 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 50,684 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,553,000 after acquiring an additional 2,151 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of KLA stock opened at $696.87 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $355.88 and a 12 month high of $729.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.39, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $657.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $566.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 22.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays lifted their price target on KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna downgraded KLA from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $640.00 to $675.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. Bank of America lifted their price target on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on KLA from $750.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $641.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.12% of the stock is owned by 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.