KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV

Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lessened its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,633 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 570 shares during the period. KLA makes up 1.7% of Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in KLA were worth $14,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter valued at $2,294,000. First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its position in KLA by 9.8% in the first quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 460 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in KLA by 7.2% in the first quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $894,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC lifted its position in KLA by 8.7% in the first quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 14,006 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,521,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,251 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $725.00 price target (down from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $790.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup decreased their target price on KLA from $910.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $590.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $799.58.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,803,042. The trade was a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $766.46, for a total transaction of $781,022.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,779 shares in the company, valued at $21,291,492.34. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,829 shares of company stock worth $13,240,166. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 2.0%

KLA stock opened at $808.00 on Friday. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $551.33 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $106.85 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $710.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $700.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by $0.33. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $1.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. KLA’s payout ratio is 27.63%.

KLA declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to purchase up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

KLA Company Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.