Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Reduces Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lessened its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,957 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,950 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in KLA were worth $42,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. 9258 Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in KLA by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,041 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,349,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of KLA by 103.1% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 23,397 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,600,000 after acquiring an additional 11,878 shares during the last quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of KLA by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 1,267 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth $360,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on KLAC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group cut their price objective on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $812.80.

KLA Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of KLAC opened at $758.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.17 billion, a PE ratio of 39.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day moving average is $772.98 and its 200 day moving average is $755.00. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $440.15 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

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.