Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Increases Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1,294.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,046 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in KLA in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in KLA by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective (up from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $722.26.

KLA Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $717.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $96.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $374.49 and a 12-month high of $729.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $690.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $612.86.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.