ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 45 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 292 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in KLA in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in KLA by 77.3% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup cut their price target on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $804.57.

KLA Trading Down 1.8 %

KLAC stock opened at $670.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $452.01 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $90.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day moving average is $772.14 and its 200 day moving average is $764.07.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders 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 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,257,998.29. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,873 shares of company stock valued at $14,532,193 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.