KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Park Place Capital Corp

Park Place Capital Corp lowered its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 11.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 245 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 33 shares during the quarter. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in KLA were worth $171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,480 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $843,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $4,559,000. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,059,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 26,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $15,478,000 after purchasing an additional 1,692 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $740.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, April 1st. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $685.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $820.00 target price on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $747.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total value of $803,563.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 directly owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total transaction of $803,563.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,726,714.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 22,861 shares of company stock valued at $16,795,913. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of KLAC traded up $3.28 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $827.79. The company had a trading volume of 480,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 905,419. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $759.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $681.98. The stock has a market cap of $111.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.36, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a 52 week low of $440.15 and a 52 week high of $876.55. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.32. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 102.37%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 23.3 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a $1.45 dividend. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.38%.

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.