KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) is Vista Investment Partners LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Vista Investment Partners LLC cut its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 28.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,843 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,572 shares during the quarter. KLA makes up 2.2% of Vista Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $6,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,660,000 after buying an additional 2,019 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 8,780 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 1,579.3% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 6,566 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,589,000 after acquiring an additional 6,175 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 16.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 76,951 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $53,756,000 after purchasing an additional 10,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Security National Bank raised its stake in KLA by 890.8% during the first quarter. Security National Bank now owns 2,477 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 2,227 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at $6,063,876.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 sold 20,873 shares of company stock valued at $14,532,193 in the last quarter. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Trading Down 1.8 %

KLAC opened at $670.25 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $452.01 and a 12 month high of $896.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $772.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $764.07. The firm 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 company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

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. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Ten research 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $804.57.

KLA Company 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.