KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Acquired by Lafayette Investments Inc.

Lafayette Investments Inc. increased its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,608 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 90 shares during the quarter. KLA comprises about 3.2% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $15,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in KLA by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 538.5% in the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,765,000 after acquiring an additional 6,279 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its holdings in KLA by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 8,780 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 1,579.3% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 6,566 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,589,000 after acquiring an additional 6,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in KLA by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 76,951 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $53,756,000 after acquiring an additional 10,594 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC stock traded up $7.87 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $672.50. The stock had a trading volume of 156,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 932,953. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $452.01 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $764.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $764.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.13 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $804.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total transaction of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at $6,063,876.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.