Mezzasalma Advisors LLC Buys 910 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Mezzasalma Advisors LLC boosted its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 245.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 910 shares during the quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in KLA by 2,033.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,748,351.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $10,039,269.67. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,748,351.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total transaction of $5,953,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,399,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,905 shares of company stock valued at $16,831,966 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

KLA Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $14.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $853.33. 440,788 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 766,154. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $876.55. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $114.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.70, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $770.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $686.67.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, April 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James upped their price target on KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $747.40.

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.