KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 21.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,470 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,094 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in KLA by 6.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,449,135,000 after purchasing an additional 190,355 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of KLA by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $733,249,000 after acquiring an additional 54,472 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $626,431,000 after acquiring an additional 153,752 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,267,811 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $581,496,000 after acquiring an additional 117,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of KLA by 52.8% during the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $530,630,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Down 3.4 %

KLAC opened at $666.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.33. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $369.66 and a 1-year high of $729.15. The business has a 50 day moving average of $687.50 and a 200-day moving average of $604.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.14, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. KLA’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 23.24 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective (up from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $722.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, 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 transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $2,272,897.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA 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.