KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) CFO Bren D. Higgins Sells 7,018 Shares

KLA Co. (NASDAQ:KLAC) CFO Bren D. Higgins sold 7,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.04, for a total transaction of $4,947,970.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 32,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,825,670. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

KLA Trading Up 0.2 %

KLAC opened at $698.57 on Friday. KLA Co. has a twelve month low of $355.88 and a twelve month high of $729.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $660.14 and a 200-day moving average of $567.36. The stock has a market cap of $94.47 billion, a PE ratio of 35.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.34.

KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor company reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.91 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. KLA had a net margin of 27.98% and a return on equity of 107.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that KLA Co. will post 22.74 EPS for the current year.

KLA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. KLA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of KLA during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. 86.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLAC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of KLA from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $685.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of KLA from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of KLA from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $625.00 price target on shares of KLA in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, KLA has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.