Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. Takes $247,000 Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 425 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of KLA by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $843,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its position in KLA by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,059,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its position in KLA by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 26,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $15,478,000 after purchasing an additional 1,692 shares during the period. Chico Wealth RIA raised its position in KLA by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Chico Wealth RIA now owns 3,870 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares during the period. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its position in KLA by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 43,484 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,277,000 after purchasing an additional 14,251 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on KLAC shares. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $722.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the 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 owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $713.93 on Tuesday. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $369.66 and a 12 month high of $729.15. The stock has a market cap of $96.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $686.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $603.00.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 22.61 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were given a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. KLA’s 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.