Paragon Capital Management Inc. Invests $716,000 in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Paragon Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 924 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB raised its position in KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 22.3% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 8,780 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its position in KLA by 1,579.3% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 6,566 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,589,000 after buying an additional 6,175 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in KLA by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 76,951 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $53,756,000 after acquiring an additional 10,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Security National Bank increased its position in KLA by 890.8% in the 1st quarter. Security National Bank now owns 2,477 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 2,227 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at $74,257,998.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,873 shares of company stock valued at $14,532,193. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KLAC. Barclays upped their target price on shares of KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com lowered KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $804.57.

KLA Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $682.59 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $452.01 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $91.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company’s fifty day moving average is $773.78 and its 200-day moving average is $764.72.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.13 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

About KLA

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.