KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) CFO Bren D. Higgins Sells 7,018 Shares

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

KLA Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:KLAC opened at $698.57 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $660.14 and a 200-day moving average of $567.36. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $355.88 and a 1 year high of $729.15. The stock has a market cap of $94.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.48, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.91.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a return on equity of 107.56% and a net margin of 27.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.38 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 22.74 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were given 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 dividend yield of 0.83%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on KLAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $685.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday. New Street Research initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, December 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $625.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $641.05.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of KLA by 1.9% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 22,566 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,261,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of KLA by 34.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 80,289 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,382,000 after acquiring an additional 20,773 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 183.1% during the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 4,374 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 2,829 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 32.9% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 924 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. grew its stake in KLA by 4.4% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 50,684 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,553,000 after acquiring an additional 2,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

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.