Insider Selling: KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) CFO Sells 1,019 Shares of Stock

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total value of $803,563.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,726,714.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

KLA Price Performance

NASDAQ KLAC traded up $13.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $779.06. 548,353 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 926,230. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $418.12 and a 12-month high of $790.52. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $699.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $632.95. The company has a market capitalization of $104.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.33.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.31 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 102.37% and a net margin of 27.19%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.49 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 23.3 EPS for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 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 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KLAC. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on KLA in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price target for the company. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of KLA from $670.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $650.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $727.15.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in KLA in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 77.3% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 39 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.