Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management Sells 24 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,469 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management’s holdings in KLA were worth $2,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of KLA by 2.8% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,791 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,739,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of KLA by 0.3% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 8,580 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,935,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of KLA by 21.8% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 65,891 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,222,000 after purchasing an additional 11,779 shares in the last quarter. Centurion Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of KLA in the third quarter worth about $221,000. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 6.7% in the third quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 760 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 93,142 shares in the company, valued at $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,284 shares of company stock valued at $17,260,138. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Down 0.2 %

KLAC stock traded down $1.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $747.68. The company had a trading volume of 585,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 861,822. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $693.70 and a 200 day moving average of $625.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 2.14 and a quick ratio of 1.46. KLA Co. has a 12 month low of $404.80 and a 12 month high of $763.93. The company has a market capitalization of $100.67 billion, a PE ratio of 39.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.33.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. KLA’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 23.3 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on KLAC shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $727.15.

About KLA

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.