KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) EVP Oreste Donzella Sells 3,257 Shares of Stock

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) EVP Oreste Donzella sold 3,257 shares of KLA 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,809,017.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

KLA Stock Performance

KLA stock opened at $696.87 on Thursday. 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 1 year low of $355.88 and a 1 year high of $729.15. The company has a market cap of $94.24 billion, a PE ratio of 35.39, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $657.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $566.45.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that KLA Co. will post 22.74 earnings per share for the current year.

KLA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were given a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is 29.46%.

Institutional Trading of KLA

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of KLA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,601,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $575,000. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in KLA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,050,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in KLA by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,518 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,464,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in KLA by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 6,847 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,980,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $685.00 price objective on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. New Street Research began coverage on shares of KLA in a research note on Monday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of KLA from $750.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $641.05.

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.