KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Chico Wealth RIA

Chico Wealth RIA reduced its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,645 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. KLA accounts for 2.4% of Chico Wealth RIA’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Chico Wealth RIA’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,480 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in KLA by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $843,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth $4,559,000. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of KLA by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,059,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management raised its stake in shares of KLA by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 26,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $15,478,000 after acquiring an additional 1,692 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $10,039,269.67. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at $66,748,351.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other KLA news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,399,800. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,861 shares of company stock worth $16,795,913 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on KLAC. Citigroup increased their price target on KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. 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 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, April 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $747.40.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock traded up $2.87 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $827.38. 274,796 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 903,778. The firm has a market cap of $111.40 billion, a PE ratio of 42.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $759.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $681.98. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $876.55.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. KLA’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

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.