Centaurus Financial Inc. Lowers Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Centaurus Financial Inc. decreased its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 865 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 27 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings 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. lifted its holdings in KLA by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft purchased a new stake in KLA during the fourth quarter worth $4,559,000. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its holdings in KLA by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 26,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $15,478,000 after buying an additional 1,692 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was 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 owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,399,800. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $24,399,800. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 33,136 shares of company stock worth $24,016,781. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $824.84 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The business has a fifty day moving average of $728.78 and a 200 day moving average of $662.12. KLA Co. has a 1 year low of $440.15 and a 1 year high of $832.99.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The company’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 23.3 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on KLA in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Raymond James upped their target price on KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on KLA from $725.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $740.15.

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.