Grove Bank & Trust Grows Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 615 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in KLA were worth $476,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB bought a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter worth $379,678,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in KLA by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,032,017 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $720,936,000 after purchasing an additional 211,227 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in KLA by 2,205.8% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 201,592 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $166,215,000 after purchasing an additional 192,849 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in KLA by 136.2% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 309,546 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $214,667,000 after purchasing an additional 178,474 shares during the period. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP raised its holdings in KLA by 56.2% in the 1st quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 302,782 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $211,514,000 after purchasing an additional 108,900 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on KLA in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $750.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup decreased their price target on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on KLA from $680.00 to $675.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $804.57.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $829.65 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $111.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.46, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $774.25 and a 200 day moving average of $765.24.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,749,473.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The trade was 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 valued at $14,532,193 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Company 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.