KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) CFO Sells $5,078,136.96 in Stock

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,008 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.62, for a total transaction of $5,078,136.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,798 shares in the company, valued at $20,867,606.76. This represents a 19.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

KLA Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:KLAC traded up $6.20 on Monday, reaching $679.80. 1,165,383 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,008,403. The business has a fifty day moving average of $727.83 and a 200-day moving average of $702.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. KLA Co. has a 52-week low of $609.40 and a 52-week high of $896.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.30.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The semiconductor company reported $8.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.73 by $0.47. KLA had a net margin of 29.58% and a return on equity of 108.60%. As a group, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 31.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Remove Ads

KLA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. KLA's payout ratio is 28.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on KLA from $700.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of KLA from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $748.00 to $870.00 in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of KLA from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on KLA from $795.00 to $870.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $832.17.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KLA

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KLAC. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of KLA by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 648 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of KLA by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,778 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $6,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,112 shares during the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at $1,563,000. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of KLA by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,705 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc grew its stake in shares of KLA by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 60,834 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $38,326,000 after purchasing an additional 8,028 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.65% of the company's stock.

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.