Peddock Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Peddock Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,349 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 205 shares during the quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in KLA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in KLA by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 75 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded down $4.59 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $709.79. The company had a trading volume of 252,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 948,800. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $689.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $612.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $374.49 and a 12 month high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.49 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 23.24 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KLAC. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI started coverage on KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $722.26.

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.