Brighton Jones LLC Has $5.70 Million Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 706.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,362 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 6,449 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $5,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the second quarter worth approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total transaction 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 $6,063,876.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total transaction of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,063,876.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $664.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $452.01 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The firm has a market cap of $89.49 billion, a PE ratio of 34.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $764.03 and its 200-day moving average is $764.02.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.13 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $804.57.

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.