CIBC Asset Management Inc Trims Stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

CIBC Asset Management Inc reduced its position in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 39,627 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 577 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in KLA were worth $32,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KLAC. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings 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. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in KLA during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in KLA by 2,033.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 64 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at KLA

In related news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of KLA stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other KLA news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total transaction 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,917 shares of company stock worth $14,568,247 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Performance

Shares of KLAC stock opened at $819.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $110.33 billion, a PE ratio of 42.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $803.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $749.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $440.15 and a 52-week high of $896.32.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share (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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS 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 paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on KLAC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Argus boosted their target price on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup dropped their target price on KLA from $990.00 to $960.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. 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, KLA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $805.29.

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.