Hills Bank & Trust Co Trims Holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Hills Bank & Trust Co lessened its holdings in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,965 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 134 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,886,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in KLA by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,159,498 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,449,135,000 after buying an additional 190,355 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 3.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,598,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $733,249,000 after acquiring an additional 54,472 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in KLA by 12.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,365,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $626,431,000 after purchasing an additional 153,752 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in KLA by 10.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,267,811 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $581,496,000 after purchasing an additional 117,584 shares during the period. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,156,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $530,630,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at $66,748,351.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total value of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total value of $10,039,269.67. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,284 shares of company stock valued at $17,260,138 in the last 90 days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

KLA Price Performance

KLA stock traded up $7.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $718.03. 198,487 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 945,618. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $690.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $613.54. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $381.82 and a 1-year high of $729.15. The firm has a market cap of $96.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.49 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 23.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $722.26.

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.