Mary Beth Wilkinson Sells 2,611 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Stock

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) EVP Mary Beth Wilkinson sold 2,611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $652.17, for a total value of $1,702,815.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,063,876.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

KLA Trading Up 1.8 %

KLAC stock traded up $12.74 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $716.22. 1,191,614 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 936,177. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $807.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $725.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.43 billion, a PE ratio of 37.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.50. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $440.15 and a 52-week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the second quarter worth about $332,000. Norden Group LLC boosted its holdings in KLA by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. grew its position in KLA by 40.5% in the second quarter. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. now owns 2,211 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,823,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC grew its position in KLA by 1.3% in the second quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 1,188 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $980,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of KLA by 90.9% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 200,173 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $165,045,000 after purchasing an additional 95,303 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KLAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised KLA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on KLA in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $805.29.

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.