KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc cut its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 179,262 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 869 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned approximately 0.13% of KLA worth $147,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in KLA by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,377 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $801,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in KLA by 1,294.7% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,046 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 971 shares during the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $210,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $248,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in KLA by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,120 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,395,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,749,473.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of KLAC traded down $7.53 during trading on Friday, reaching $720.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 924,328. The company has a fifty day moving average of $798.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $750.30. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $97.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.40 EPS. KLA’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on KLAC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $950.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $805.29.

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.