Flaharty Asset Management LLC Sells 50 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Flaharty Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 354 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Flaharty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 5.0% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 732 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in KLA by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 30,558 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,016,000 after purchasing an additional 4,089 shares in the last quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $832,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in KLA by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 94,420 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $43,307,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of KLA by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 32,152 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,747,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Performance

KLAC traded up $3.74 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $710.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 105,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 951,763. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $369.66 and a fifty-two week high of $729.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.01 billion, a PE ratio of 37.00, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $685.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $601.50.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI began coverage on KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $675.00 target price on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $720.42.

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.