Magnetar Financial LLC Invests $1.11 Million in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,594 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of KLA by 77.3% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in KLA by 2,033.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $980.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $820.00 price target for the company. Argus upped their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $806.24.

KLA Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $24.58 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $787.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,047,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 842,597. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $809.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $716.85. The stock has a market cap of $106.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $440.15 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.