MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC Decreases Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,730 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $1,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KLAC. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in KLA in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of KLA by 2,033.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of KLAC opened at $824.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $440.15 and a 1-year high of $876.55. The stock has a market cap of $111.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $759.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $681.98.

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

KLA Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total transaction of $803,563.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of KLA stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 22,861 shares of company stock worth $16,795,913. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Bank of America raised their price objective on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $747.40.

About KLA

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.