Lowery Thomas LLC Sells 600 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Lowery Thomas LLC cut its stake in shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) by 28.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,512 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. KLA makes up 0.8% of Lowery Thomas LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Lowery Thomas LLC’s holdings in KLA were worth $879,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $843,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,668 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,059,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 26,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $15,478,000 after purchasing an additional 1,692 shares during the last quarter. Chico Wealth RIA grew its holdings in shares of KLA by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Chico Wealth RIA now owns 3,870 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in KLA by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 43,484 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $25,277,000 after acquiring an additional 14,251 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on KLAC. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $605.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of KLA from $565.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $675.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of KLA in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $800.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $720.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KLA news, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,809,017.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $697.85, for a total transaction of $2,272,897.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

KLA Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $33.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $706.26. The stock had a trading volume of 1,193,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,545. The firm has a market cap of $95.51 billion, a PE ratio of 37.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $685.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $600.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $369.00 and a twelve month high of $729.15.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The semiconductor company reported $5.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.31 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.19% and a return on equity of 103.31%. KLA’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.49 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 22.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.38%.

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.