Spire Wealth Management Increases Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 21.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,867 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 2,442 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in KLA were worth $8,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 30,558 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,016,000 after purchasing an additional 4,089 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in KLA by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 31,568 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,479,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 16.7% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,086,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter valued at $3,256,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 5.7% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,580 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,770,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays increased their target price on KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $722.26.

KLA Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded down $3.93 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $714.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 43,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 948,568. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $374.49 and a fifty-two week high of $729.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $688.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $610.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. The company has a market capitalization of $96.19 billion, a PE ratio of 37.63, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. KLA’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.24 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.