KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Zega Financial LLC

Zega Financial LLC decreased its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 80.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 244 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,012 shares during the quarter. Zega Financial LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. 9258 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,393 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $810,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,164 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 705 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $936,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays increased their target price on KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $812.80.

KLA Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $739.60 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $779.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $754.41. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $440.15 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $99.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.74, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Activity at KLA

In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total transaction of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,063,876.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

KLA Company 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.