American Trust Sells 157 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

American Trust reduced its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,999 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 157 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in KLA were worth $6,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its position in KLA by 77.3% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of KLA during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in KLA by 2,033.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in KLA in the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the first quarter worth $45,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KLA Price Performance

KLAC stock opened at $753.69 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $101.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.28. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $448.31 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $767.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $759.14. 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 results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.40 earnings per share. KLA’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Insider Transactions at KLA

In related news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,749,473.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of KLA 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 sale, 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. Insiders have sold 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on KLA from $765.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $808.62.

KLA Company 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.