KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Insider Ahmad A. Khan Sells 7,833 Shares

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total transaction of $5,953,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at $24,399,800. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

KLA Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $779.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $701.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $635.82. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $418.12 and a twelve month high of $790.52. The company has a market capitalization of $104.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.81, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.33. 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 announced its 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. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in KLA by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,112,261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,159,832,000 after purchasing an additional 76,226 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of KLA by 12.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 386,810 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of KLA by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,829,352,000 after acquiring an additional 71,289 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,048,728,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $750.00 target price (up from $625.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $727.15.

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.