KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Reduced position by Axa SA

Axa SA reduced its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC – Free Report) by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 89,475 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 24,291 shares during the period. Axa SA owned 0.07% of KLA worth $73,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. 9258 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $210,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in KLA by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,705 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $991,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $201,000. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in KLA by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 71,199 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $41,393,000 after purchasing an additional 4,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at $211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s shares.

Insider activity at KLA

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 $74,257,998.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, 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 transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,257,998.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available on the SEC’s website. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value 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 approximately $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 worth $14,568,247 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s shares.

KLA stock performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $772.06 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $440.15 and a 1 year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50, and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $769.11 and a two hundred day moving average price of $756.05. The firm has a market cap of $103.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.44, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC – Get Your Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. In the same period last year, the company earned $5.40 per share. KLA’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts estimate 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. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15. This represents a dividend of $5.80 on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Changes in Analyst Ratings

KLAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup cut their price target on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on KLA in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $750.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $809.81, according to MarketBeat.com.

Check out our latest report on KLA

KLA profile

(Free Report)

KLA Corporation designs, manufactures and markets process control, process enablement and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related electronics industries worldwide. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty process with semiconductors; and PCB, display and component inspection.

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