Intact Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 6.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,540 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in KLA by 77.3% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of KLA by 2,033.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on KLAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Argus upped their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $805.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,257,998.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at $6,063,876.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Trading Up 3.0 %

KLAC stock traded up $23.68 on Friday, hitting $819.43. 1,079,372 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 925,996. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $803.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $747.34.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

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.