Sagace Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Sagace Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 365 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Keyvantage Wealth LLC purchased a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in KLA by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 72,211 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $45,502,000 after purchasing an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at about $224,000. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC bought a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter worth about $126,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,178,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total transaction of $781,022.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,291,492.34. This trade represents a 3.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,829 shares of company stock valued at $13,240,166 over the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $872.00 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $551.33 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $115.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $723.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $704.95.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. The firm’s revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the semiconductor company to purchase up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $1.90 dividend. This represents a $7.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. This is a positive change from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on KLAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on KLA from $950.00 to $900.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of KLA from $870.00 to $868.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lowered their price target on KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $830.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $795.39.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.