Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Cuts Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lowered its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,327 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 55 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $4,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in KLA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $216,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of KLA by 1.0% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 77,710 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $64,071,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 24,403 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $20,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 2nd quarter valued at $256,000. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 2,585 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,131,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total transaction of $12,293,259.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,257,998.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247. 0.12% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

KLA Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of KLA stock opened at $758.85 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $772.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $754.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.17 billion, a PE ratio of 39.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $440.15 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on KLAC shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $812.80.

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.