Optimist Retirement Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Optimist Retirement Group LLC reduced its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,970 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 338 shares during the period. KLA accounts for about 1.3% of Optimist Retirement Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Optimist Retirement Group LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in KLA by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 238 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Mathes Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of KLA by 1.4% during the second quarter. Mathes Company Inc. now owns 7,710 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,357,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the second quarter valued at $206,000. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of KLA by 3.9% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 30,266 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $24,955,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,963 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,860,000 after buying an additional 1,312 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247 over the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus upped their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $812.80.

KLA Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $731.04 on Thursday. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $440.15 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $776.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $754.25. The firm has a market cap of $98.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. 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.