GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,050 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 675 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in KLA were worth $13,204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of KLA by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 550,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC lifted its position in KLA by 538.5% during the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 7,445 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,765,000 after purchasing an additional 6,279 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in KLA by 22.3% during the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 8,780 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 1,579.3% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 6,566 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,589,000 after buying an additional 6,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 655.8% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 27,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $21,194,000 after buying an additional 23,747 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on KLA in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $750.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of KLA from $900.00 to $765.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $925.00 target price on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KLA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $804.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.01, for a total value of $12,293,259.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,257,998.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,873 shares of company stock worth $14,532,193 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of KLA stock traded up $6.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $673.07. 955,127 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 990,266. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $452.01 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $757.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $763.21. The firm has a market cap of $90.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.15 by $0.45. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 29.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

KLA Profile

KLA Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of 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 and Component Inspection.