Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Cuts Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. cut its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 120,935 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,136 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $70,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in shares of KLA by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,059,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Chico Wealth RIA boosted its position in shares of KLA by 287.0% during the fourth quarter. Chico Wealth RIA now owns 3,870 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 2,870 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 43,484 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,277,000 after acquiring an additional 14,251 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd boosted its position in shares of KLA by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd now owns 15,620 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,080,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of KLA by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,715 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $997,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KLA Trading Up 4.9 %

KLAC stock opened at $706.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $95.51 billion, a PE ratio of 37.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.34. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $369.00 and a 12 month high of $729.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $685.41 and its 200 day moving average is $599.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 103.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.49 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total value of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of KLA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on KLAC. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of KLA in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $720.42.

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.