Bren D. Higgins Sells 7,018 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

KLA Stock Up 0.2 %

KLA stock traded up $1.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $698.57. 1,080,899 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 986,964. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $355.88 and a 12-month high of $729.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $660.14 and a 200 day moving average of $567.36. The firm has a market cap of $94.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.48, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $641.05.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,048,728,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 52.8% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $530,630,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of KLA by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 22.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,074,884 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $759,532,000 after buying an additional 385,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of KLA by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $580,008,000 after acquiring an additional 301,848 shares during the period. 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.