KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Morse Asset Management Inc

Morse Asset Management Inc lessened its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,874 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 86 shares during the quarter. KLA comprises approximately 1.9% of Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings in KLA were worth $7,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of KLA by 2,033.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Ahmad A. Khan sold 7,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $760.00, for a total transaction of $5,953,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,105 shares in the company, valued at $24,399,800. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 14,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.63, for a total transaction of $10,039,269.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,748,351.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,905 shares of company stock worth $16,831,966. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $24.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $787.39. 1,047,694 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 842,597. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $440.15 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market cap of $106.01 billion, a PE ratio of 41.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $809.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $717.98.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were 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 was Tuesday, May 14th. KLA’s payout ratio is 30.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of KLA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $806.24.

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.