KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) EVP Sells $1,702,815.87 in Stock

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

KLA Trading Up 7.8 %

KLAC stock opened at $752.29 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $803.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $726.53. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $440.15 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 30.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on KLA from $990.00 to $960.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $805.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $235,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 163.8% in the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,166 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 5,398 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,138,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 41,874 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $24,341,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in KLA by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,490 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,448,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About KLA

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.