Truist Financial Corp Lowers Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Truist Financial Corp decreased its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 233,571 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 17,973 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.17% of KLA worth $192,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,050,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its position in shares of KLA by 22.3% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 8,780 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 1,579.3% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 6,566 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,589,000 after buying an additional 6,175 shares during the period. Objective Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, GLOBALT Investments LLC GA acquired a new stake in KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $2,254,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $74,257,998.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,257,998.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,873 shares of company stock valued at $14,532,193 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

KLA Stock Performance

NASDAQ KLAC opened at $774.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The company has a market cap of $104.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $768.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $758.65. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $448.31 and a 1-year high of $896.32.

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

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $950.00 to $925.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $808.62.

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.