FCF Advisors LLC Trims Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

FCF Advisors LLC lowered its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 30.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,756 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,657 shares during the quarter. FCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 1st quarter worth $379,678,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,061,469,000 after purchasing an additional 386,810 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,032,017 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $720,936,000 after purchasing an additional 211,227 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 2,205.8% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 201,592 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $166,215,000 after purchasing an additional 192,849 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 136.2% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 309,546 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $214,667,000 after purchasing an additional 178,474 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of KLA 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 owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The trade was 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 this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of KLA 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 owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $8.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $790.05. 108,893 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 920,894. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $452.01 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market cap of $106.37 billion, a PE ratio of 40.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $768.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $761.05.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on KLA from $950.00 to $925.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on KLA in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $750.00 target price on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $804.81.

KLA Profile

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.