Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Stock Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lowered its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 7.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,186 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 94 shares during the quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in KLA were worth $918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in KLA during the 4th quarter valued at $1,050,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 8,780 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,133,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 1,579.3% in 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 stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth $213,000. Finally, GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth $2,254,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at $74,257,998.29. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,873 shares of company stock valued at $14,532,193. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $12.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $787.39. 757,463 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 926,023. The company has a fifty day moving average of $768.54 and a 200 day moving average of $760.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15. The company has a market capitalization of $106.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $449.35 and a twelve month high of $896.32.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on KLAC. TD Cowen upped their target price on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group reduced their price target on KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $804.81.

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.