KLA Corporation $KLAC Shares Sold by Legacy Trust

Legacy Trust reduced its stake in KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 15.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,725 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,435 shares during the quarter. Legacy Trust’s holdings in KLA were worth $3,650,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in KLA by 928.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,821,622 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,471,832,000 after buying an additional 13,381,153 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in KLA in the second quarter worth $2,522,430,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in KLA by 239.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,614,990 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,094,530,000 after acquiring an additional 3,959,927 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in KLA by 5.3% in the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,113,870 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $997,000,000 after acquiring an additional 256,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of KLA by 899.4% in the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,634,859 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,096,673,000 after acquiring an additional 3,271,158 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $157.30 on Friday. KLA Corporation has a one year low of $107.20 and a one year high of $307.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $173.40 and a 200 day moving average of $181.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a current ratio of 2.76. The company has a market capitalization of $204.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.33, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.49.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. KLA had a net margin of 36.25% and a return on equity of 89.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.47 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Corporation will post 5.73 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. KLA’s payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard Wallace sold 72,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.88, for a total transaction of $12,378,625.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 706,925 shares in the company, valued at $121,506,269. This represents a 9.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 79.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of KLA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.35.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation develops process-control and yield-management technologies used in the manufacture of semiconductors and other electronic products. Its systems help manufacturers detect defects, measure features and monitor production processes as they make increasingly complex devices. The company’s products include inspection and metrology equipment, as well as software and related services. Its technologies support multiple stages of semiconductor production, from work on wafers and reticles to advanced packaging.