KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) CEO Richard P. Wallace Sells 10,802 Shares

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) CEO Richard P. Wallace sold 10,802 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.30, for a total transaction of $7,381,006.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,803,042. This trade represents a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $702.33 on Friday. KLA Co. has a fifty-two week low of $551.33 and a fifty-two week high of $896.32. The stock has a market cap of $93.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $678.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $683.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.36.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.08 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. KLA had a return on equity of 108.60% and a net margin of 29.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor company to buy up to 5.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

KLA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $1.90 per share. This is a boost from KLA’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on KLA from $750.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna raised their price target on KLA from $620.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down previously from $875.00) on shares of KLA in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $802.74.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KLA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KLAC. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of KLA by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 48 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KLA in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of KLA during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of KLA in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 86.65% of the company’s stock.

KLA Company Profile

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.