New Century Financial Group LLC Buys 223 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 35.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 851 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 223 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KLAC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,048,728,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in KLA by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in KLA by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $580,008,000 after buying an additional 301,848 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in KLA by 6,309.1% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 250,147 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $145,410,000 after buying an additional 246,244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $132,189,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 1.7 %

KLAC traded up $14.22 during trading on Thursday, reaching $853.33. The stock had a trading volume of 440,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,154. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $770.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $686.67. 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 market capitalization of $114.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a one year low of $440.15 and a one year high of $876.55.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total value of $5,953,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,399,800. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total value of $5,953,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,399,800. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. Barclays upgraded KLA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $630.00 to $765.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $747.40.

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.