Range Financial Group LLC Has $576,000 Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Range Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 28.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 847 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 693 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC lifted its position in KLA by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 624 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in KLA by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,715 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,971,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in KLA by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,231 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,337,000 after acquiring an additional 874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter worth $10,157,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of KLA from $770.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $725.00 price target (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $795.39.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total value of $7,381,006.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,829 shares of company stock valued at $13,240,166 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC opened at $808.00 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $710.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $701.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $551.33 and a 52 week high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.85 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.26 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $1.90 per share. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.63%.

KLA announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor company to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About KLA

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.