Institute for Wealth Management LLC. Lowers Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. cut its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,428 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 53 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Zhang Financial LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 3,022 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 7,299 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,243,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. HTLF Bank acquired a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $242,000. Lafayette Investments Inc. increased its position in KLA by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 19,329 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $11,236,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in KLA by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,446 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,422,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

KLA Stock Down 2.6 %

KLA stock traded down $17.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $627.15. The stock had a trading volume of 534,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 954,704. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $355.88 and a 52-week high of $729.15. The stock has a market cap of $84.81 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $684.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $591.62.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $625.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays lifted 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, Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $688.42.

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.