KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC reduced its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 2.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 590 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 15 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the second quarter worth about $65,000. Berkshire Bank grew its stake in shares of KLA by 15.4% in the second quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the second quarter valued at $440,000. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of KLA by 25.6% during the second quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 1,242 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in KLA by 102.3% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 87 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of KLA in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of KLA from $730.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of KLA from $990.00 to $960.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on KLA from $692.00 to $698.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $805.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other KLA news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total transaction of $36,053.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,769 shares of company stock worth $21,324,890 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded down $5.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $746.78. The company had a trading volume of 763,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 935,573. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $803.64 and its 200-day moving average is $728.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.55 billion, a PE ratio of 39.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 103.50% and a net margin of 28.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s payout ratio is 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.