Bokf Na Boosts Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Bokf Na increased its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 85.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,961 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 3,659 shares during the quarter. Bokf Na’s holdings in KLA were worth $5,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 77.3% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in KLA by 2,033.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at $24,399,800. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,905 shares of company stock valued at $16,831,966. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

KLA Stock Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $24.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $787.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,047,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 842,597. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $440.15 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $809.47 and a 200-day moving average of $716.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.01 billion, a PE ratio of 41.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on KLAC. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $980.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $806.24.

About KLA

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.