KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) Shares Sold by Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lowered its position in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 1.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 73,538 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 1,350 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned about 0.05% of KLA worth $60,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of KLA by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,112,261 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,159,832,000 after purchasing an additional 76,226 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of KLA by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,061,469,000 after purchasing an additional 386,810 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake 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 worth $1,829,352,000 after purchasing an additional 71,289 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth about $1,048,728,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of KLA by 25.7% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,032,017 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $720,936,000 after purchasing an additional 211,227 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KLAC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $950.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of KLA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of KLA from $735.00 to $838.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $805.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at KLA

In other KLA news, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total value of $803,563.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,726,714.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,749,473.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 1,019 shares of KLA stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $788.58, for a total transaction of $803,563.02. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,356 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,726,714.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,936 shares of company stock valued at $15,371,810 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.12% of the company's stock.

KLA Trading Down 1.1 %

KLA stock traded down $8.88 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $811.57. The company had a trading volume of 684,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 933,390. KLA Co. has a 1-year low of $440.15 and a 1-year high of $896.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $807.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $737.16. The stock has a market cap of $109.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.27.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.40 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that KLA Co. will post 29.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. KLA's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.38%.

KLA Company Profile

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.

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