Zhang Financial LLC Has $3.11 Million Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Zhang Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 13.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,577 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 541 shares during the quarter. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $211,000. Charis Legacy Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Charis Legacy Partners LLC now owns 2,054 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 708 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 224 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,552 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total value of $5,078,136.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,829 shares of company stock valued at $13,240,166. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on KLA from $870.00 to $868.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $790.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $795.39.

KLA Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $872.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $115.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.67, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $723.77 and a 200-day moving average of $704.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor company to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $1.90 dividend. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.63%.

KLA Company Profile

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.