KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Position Lessened by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise trimmed its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 54.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 905 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,095 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in KLA were worth $746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Market Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 1.6% during the second quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 808 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $666,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.6% during the second quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 548 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. United Community Bank raised its holdings in KLA by 4.0% during the first quarter. United Community Bank now owns 390 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 2.7% during the second quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 567 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in KLA by 1.2% during the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,280 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KLAC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna cut their target price on KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James raised their target price on KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $950.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com lowered KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $805.29.

KLA Stock Up 3.0 %

KLAC stock opened at $819.43 on Monday. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The company has a market cap of $110.33 billion, a PE ratio of 42.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $803.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $748.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released 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 company had revenue of $2.57 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,257,998.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other KLA news, EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total transaction of $1,702,815.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,063,876.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at $74,257,998.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.