Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 9,652 Shares of KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC)

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its stake in KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 130,007 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 9,652 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.10% of KLA worth $107,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLAC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,048,728,000. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter worth approximately $627,399,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in KLA in the 1st quarter worth approximately $379,678,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in KLA by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,546,308 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,061,469,000 after buying an additional 386,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in KLA by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 997,778 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $580,008,000 after buying an additional 301,848 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KLA Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ KLAC traded up $23.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $819.43. The company had a trading volume of 1,079,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 952,207. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $440.15 and a twelve month high of $896.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.33 billion, a PE ratio of 42.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50 day moving average is $803.10 and its 200-day moving average is $748.09.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The semiconductor company reported $6.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. KLA had a net margin of 28.15% and a return on equity of 103.50%. KLA's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 29.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KLA Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Brian Lorig sold 44 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $819.40, for a total value of $36,053.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,644,493.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Virendra A. Kirloskar sold 825 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $649.84, for a total value of $536,118.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,231 shares in the company, valued at $2,749,473.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,917 shares of company stock valued at $14,568,247 over the last three months. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KLAC. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on 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 increased their price objective on KLA from $860.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Argus increased their price objective on KLA from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on KLA from $760.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KLA currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $805.29.

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.