Brian Lorig Sells 44 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

KLA Stock Up 1.7 %

KLAC traded up $14.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $853.33. The company had a trading volume of 440,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 898,864. The company has a market capitalization of $114.89 billion, a PE ratio of 43.96, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a one year low of $440.15 and a one year high of $876.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $767.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $685.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,048,728,000. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at about $627,399,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter valued at about $379,678,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in KLA by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 301,848 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays upgraded shares of KLA from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $630.00 to $765.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $747.40.

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.