Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Increases Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 754 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 42 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in KLA were worth $438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $991,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 40.4% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,129 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 5.7% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 427 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $197,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of KLA by 12.4% in the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 481 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $307,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $696.58.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $16.58 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $650.22. 362,503 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 954,539. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $355.88 and a fifty-two week high of $729.15. The firm has a market cap of $87.93 billion, a PE ratio of 33.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $683.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $595.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other KLA news, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

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.