Sound Income Strategies LLC Sells 61 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Sound Income Strategies LLC lessened its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 18.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of KLA by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,112,261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,159,832,000 after buying an additional 76,226 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in KLA by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,811,766 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,318,329,000 after purchasing an additional 28,172 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of KLA by 2.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,618,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,829,352,000 after buying an additional 71,289 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of KLA by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,163,958 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $959,695,000 after acquiring an additional 21,412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in KLA by 7.9% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,113,352 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $917,970,000 after purchasing an additional 81,335 shares during the period. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KLAC shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of KLA from $960.00 to $900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on KLA from $950.00 to $870.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $804.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In related news, CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 17,437 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 105,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,257,998.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,873 shares of company stock valued at $14,532,193 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC opened at $803.73 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. KLA Co. has a 12-month low of $452.01 and a 12-month high of $896.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $771.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $764.31. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

About KLA

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.